


The Shining Blaze

by Hiki_Leon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Self-Insert, shiningblazeshipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-24 21:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 59,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22124887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hiki_Leon/pseuds/Hiki_Leon
Summary: Hiki is a young girl from the Johto Region who is sent to her mother's home region of Galar to train with her aunt, to be a Gym Leader. But after seeing that she is unhappy training in the Gym, her aunt endorses her to take part in the Gym Challenge, where she meets some pretty amazing trainers. What kind of adventures will she and her new friends go on?This is a self-shipping story, so please keep that in mind!Want to skip the back story and the origin of their relationship and begin reading the story as it follows the events of the Sword and Shield games? Skip to Chapter 14!
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Original Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

It was the longest plane ride of her life. With her Vulpix in her arms, 10 year old Hiki stared out the window with a sad expression on her face. Just as her family always wanted, she was being sent to her mother’s home region of Galar to train with her aunt in hopes that someday she will also become a gym leader. Unfortunately, this wasn’t something Hiki wanted for herself. She had really hoped that once she turned 10, her grandfather would have forgotten this silly gym leader idea and allow her to travel through Johto, the region she was born in, the one she was familiar with, and collect Gym Badges and take on the Pokemon League there.

When she arrived, her Aunt Melony welcomed her with a warm hug, as she always did. She was given a comfortable room to sleep in, which was down the hall from each of her cousins’ rooms. She forced a smile while around her aunt and cousins, not wanting to hurt their feelings by letting them know this was not where she wanted to be. Melony, however, was much smarter than she thought and could read her very well.

On Hiki’s first day as a gym trainer, Melony gifted her with a new Pokemon, Snom, in hopes of cheering her up. The little Pokemon was a cute Ice Type, just like Vulpix. A perfect Pokemon to use in a gym with an Ice Type leader. She thanked her aunt with a smile and prepared herself for their first challenger of the day.

As time went on and more challengers came and gone, Hiki grew more envious of the trainers who got to travel around freely and train with their own Pokemon. She just wanted to feel the excitement of taking an adventure. Little did she know, that dream wasn’t nearly as far as she thought! Melony knew how miserable Hiki was being kept from her dream of traveling, and decided to pull some strings to endorse her, and gave a call to the professor of the region, Magnolia.

As it turned out, Magnolia’s granddaughter was coming over that very day to choose her own starter, so she asked Melony to bring Hiki to the lab to pick one up. It was the greatest day of her life! And where her story all began.

\---

“Let’s go, Scorbunny!” she called out to her new rabbit companion. “We should get going! Today is an important day, you know! It’s the opening ceremonies for the Pokemon League Gym Challenge! I’ve dreamed of getting to participate in something like this for as long as I can remember!” She called Scorbunny back into her Pokeball and with Vulpix on her shoulder, she was off to the stadium.

Along the way, her eyes met those of another trainer. She knew exactly what that meant, of course. A Pokemon battle! She hadn’t battled another trainer since she and Sonia battled after receiving their starter Pokemon. Chills ran through her body as she grabbed her first Pokeball in excitement, calling out her new Scorbunny.

This battle wasn’t so easy, however. Her opponent swept her entire party with a single Pokemon. A Charmander to be specific. She couldn’t believe it… He was so strong. She returned her last Pokemon to its ball, feeling a little disappointed in herself.

“Hey!” the boy called out to her. “You did a really great job! Try not to let the loss get you down! You’ve got awesome potential!” He flashed her a big grin while recalling Charmander to its Pokeball, then stuck out his hand to shake hers. She took his hand and shook it, unsure if she was more shocked by the quick loss or the boy’s kindness towards her. “I’m Leon,” he said. “I’m going to be the next champion of Galar!” He seemed so confident in himself. Though with strong Pokemon like his, Hiki thought he had every reason to be.

“My name… is Hiki.” She pulled her hand away and rubbed the back of her head. “I still haven’t decided on a goal for myself. All I know is I want to be able to meet lots of new Pokemon and battle gym leaders!”

“Are you taking part in the gym challenge this year?” he asked her while handing her a few revives to take care of her fainted Pokemon..

She nodded. “My aunt is the gym leader in Circhester and she endorsed me!”

“Then I hope to see you on the battlefield in the finals of the Pokemon League! I’d like to see how strong you are by then!” He waved to her before turning away. “But for now, we have the Opening Ceremonies to get to! Let’s go! I’ll race you there!”

\---

“Are you sure you know where we are going?” Hiki asked, as the two trainers slowed their running when they reached the end of town. “This can’t be the way to the stadium. We’ve pretty much left town!”

“Uh… I thought it was over this way,” Leon replied, scratching his head. “How did I get this mixed up?”

Hiki groaned. “Well we are going to be late if we don’t figure it out soon! Why don’t we ask for directions at the Pokemon Center.” Luckily, they had stopped right next to one, so they wouldn’t have to try to find that, too.

“Yeah… Guess you’re right,” he responded, sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry! It was a simple mistake!” Surely anyone could get lost in such a big city, especially if they had never been there before. It wasn’t like it would happen all the time! She pushed open the door and went in on her own to talk to the nurse, who gave her very informative directions on how to get there. She came back outside to where Leon was waiting.

“So, did she tell you where to go?” he asked, feeling excited to get there and register for the Gym Challenge.

“Uh-huh, she sure did!” she responded with a nod, but Leon also noticed a sneaky little smile creeping onto her face. “And now _I’m_ going to race _you_ there!” And with that said, she broke out into a run.

“Wha-?? Hey! But you didn’t even tell me which way we’re supposed to go!” he shouted and started chasing after her. 

\---

When they arrived at the stadium, they were both out of breath and laughing. “That was so unfair!” Leon told her, even if he did find their little race to be fun.

“Hey, that’s what you get for getting us lost before!” Hiki laughed and shoved him gently.

“Hiki! Leon!” A familiar voice rang out near the check in desk. It was Sonia! She waved for the two trainers to join her at the desk. “You two met! You might want to hurry and get registered though! There’s not much time left!”

“Yeah, we had a battle before coming and then _someone_ got us lost on the way! But it’s okay because I saved the day and got us here…” Hiki snickered and handed the man at the counter her letter of endorsement.

“Ah, yes, Challenger Hiki! You must be Melony’s niece. She’s done nothing but talk about you since she got here today.”

That’s a little embarrassing… She knew her aunt was excited for her own kids to take part in the Gym Challenge, but the oldest, Gordie, was still about a year away from being able to. So that meant Hiki was the first in their family to participate since she and her mother had done it.

“Oh yeah! You did mention your aunt was a Gym Leader! That’s so cool!” Leon said while handing in his own endorsement letter. “Is she really strong?”

Hiki nodded with a smile. “Yeah! She is, actually! If you _really_ plan to be Champion, you’ll have to work hard to beat her!”

“Challenger Leon, you were endorsed by our League’s Chairman? That’s a rare sight. He must have high hopes for you!”

“The Chairman was at my Gran’s lab talking with her when he overheard Lee training his Charmander with some Wooloo nearby! Saw something in him that day And then I heard about it nonstop for days!” Sonia smiled and rolled her eyes.

“We have Challengers endorsed by a Gym Leader, the Chairman, _and_ Galar’s Professor. It looks like this is going to be an exciting season! Good luck to all of you!”

\---

The Opening Ceremony finally started with Chairman Rose and his assistant Oleana in the center of the field. Rose really knew how to get the crowd excited! “Ladies and gentlemen! I am Rose, chairman of the Pokémon League! I know that everyone gathered here and everyone watching from home have all been waiting for this big moment! It is my pleasure to announce that finally— the Galar region Gym Challenge will now begin!" The audience erupted with cheers. "Yes, the Gym Challenge! Participants must defeat the eight Gym Leaders and gather the eight Gym Badges to prove their skills as a Trainer! Only the most worthy will have the honor of challenging our region’s strongest trainer! The Champion of the Galar Region! Now, I would like to invite the Gym Leaders to show themselves!"

As he said this, eight powerful looking trainers entered the stadium, all wearing uniforms for their own respective gyms. Hiki’s Aunt Melony was among these trainers, wearing all white and gray to represent the Ice-Type Pokemon she used. 

Finally it was time for each of the challengers to join them. Feeling anxious, Hiki stepped out onto the field wearing the uniform number 225. She looked around at each of the other challengers. She saw Sonia and Leon among many others she had yet to meet. Their numbers ranged from 049, 061, and 241 along with many others she couldn’t read from afar. Everyone looked so strong!

She could tell she was going to have to train hard if she really wanted to make it far in this league. But she knew she wouldn’t give up!

\---

When the ceremony was over, Hiki, Leon, and Sonia were greeted in the lobby by her Melony, who gave Hiki a big hug, to which Hiki groaned. “Aunt Mel… you’re embarrassing me!” she told her, turning her aunt’s attention to the other two trainers that were with her.

“Oh my, you made some friends already? Or should I say rivals?” Melony responded with a chuckle. “Your mother is going to want to hear all about this you know!”

Hiki sighed, still a little unhappy with her parents for sending her off to another region rather than letter her stay home in Johto. But, she had to admit she did miss them a lot. “I’ll call her later and tell her all about it, I promise.”

“Good! Now why don’t you kids get checked into the Budew Drop Hotel! You’ll want to get lots of rest before starting your Challenge tomorrow!” She winked at the three trainers. “I look forward to seeing all of you in my gym very soon, okay! Good luck!”

“She’s right you know! We can meet some of the other challengers while we are there, too!” Sonia exclaimed. “But let _me_ lead the way this time since Hiki, you’re not from around here, and Leon… well you’ll just get lost again.”

Hiki chuckled and followed behind the other female trainer. “Are you saying he’s gotten lost other times too?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault! Some of the routes are a little confusing!” Leon whined, trying to defend himself.

“If only someone had warned me before I followed you! Then we wouldn’t have had to ask for directions like that!” Hiki teased. 

He shrugged. “We still made it on time, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, you’re right! And it was fun! I’m not from Galar, so I don’t really know anyone other than Sonia… I was kind of worried about being able to make friends,” Hiki responded, sounding a little embarrassed at the last part.

“I planned to introduce you two eventually anyway! Lee and I grew up together since he lived south of the lab!” Sonia told her.

“Wait, you’re not from Galar? Guess that explains your Vulpix then! Does that mean you’re from Alola?” Leon questioned, putting a finger to his chin.

“Nope! My Vulpix was a gift from my grandfather! I’m actually from Johto!” Hiki responded. “My mom is from Galar, though, but my dad is from Johto so they moved there together after they got married.”

“Johto, huh… That’s near Kanto!” His eyes sparkled as he mentioned the region. It was where his beloved Charmander came from. 

“That’s right! I’ve been to Kanto plenty of times!”

Sonia smiled to herself as she listened to the two talking behind her. Something told her they would get along pretty well and she was right! Finally they made it to the front door of the hotel. “Alright, we’re here! Let’s get checked in!”

The trio entered the hotel lobby and noticed quite a few other challengers waiting in there as well. They waited in line to check in, with Leon the first of the three to get himself checked in. When he got his key, he told the girls he would meet up with them when they were finished.

Moments later, however, there was a small commotion near the lobby entrance. Hiki and Sonia looked over their shoulders from the front desk to see a small crowd forming where all the noise was coming from.

“Isn’t Leon over there?” Hiki asked, taking her key from the receptionist.

Sonia stepped forward to check herself in next and sighed. She was pretty sure she knew exactly what was going on. “Yep… I think he’s challenged someone else to a battle now.”

“Really? We just got here!” Hiki crossed her arms over her chest and couldn’t help but laugh. “He sure does love to battle, huh?”

“He’s determined to take that Champion title.” Sonia took her key and the two walked over toward the little crowd. “He won’t turn down a single battle, no matter what. He wants to learn from every trainer he meets, figure out the best strategies and stuff, you know?”

“That makes sense…” Hiki stood on her tiptoes to try to get a better view of the battle. It looked like Leon’s Charmander was up against a Trapinch, which had the Type advantage over him. “This one looks pretty tough, though. Do you think he’ll win?”

“He’ll surprise you! I’ve seen him fight his way out of some of the most difficult type match ups!” And almost as if on cue, the moment Sonia said that, there was an angry groan from the opposing trainer as he recalled his Pokemon. “See what I mean?”

Leon recalled his Charmander and went over to shake the other trainer’s hand. Hiki and Sonia walked over to meet back up with him. “Sheesh, we leave you alone for a few moments and you’re already battling someone!” Sonia commented.

Hiki pat the other trainer on the arm, noticing he seemed a little grumpy over the loss. “It’s okay, he beat me earlier, too. We’ll just have to train hard so we can beat him next time!”

The boy smirked at her comment. “Oh, I won’t lose next time! Anyway, my name’s Raihan.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Sonia, and she’s Hiki! And clearly you’ve already met Leon,” Sonia said with a chuckle. “We’re all Gym Challengers!”

“Yeah, I remember seeing all of you at the Opening Ceremonies!” Raihan responded.

Just then… Leon’s stomach growled and he rubbed the back of his head with a laugh. “Oops… I forgot to have lunch before the ceremony. I was too excited!”

Sonia sighed and shook her head. “Why don’t we all go have dinner somewhere? We can get to know each other better since we will probably be seeing a lot of each other over the next few months!”

Everyone agreed and Hiki couldn’t help but feel slightly overjoyed. Not only did she make a few friends, but was even getting invited to hang out with them? How could anything get better than that?


	2. Chapter 2

Over the months that followed, Hiki and her friends all went their separate ways to challenge the gyms. There were quite a few occasions, however, where they would all meet up in the Wild Area after earning a Gym Badge to camp out together and talk about how their battles went while Sonia made curry. Both Leon and Raihan had won each of their badges on the first attempt, but Hiki and Sonia were having a slightly harder time with the more challenging gyms.

By this time, Leon had 5 badges, Raihan had 4, Sonia had 3, and Hiki was the furthest behind with only 2. She sat on a long near their campfire with her chin in her hands, trying to figure out what to do. It was probably a little more difficult for her, due to the typings of her team members. Her team up until then consisted of her Alolan Vulpix, Snom, and Raboot, who had just recently evolved after her previous struggle with the Water-Type Gym in Hulbury.

“You’re quiet tonight, Hiki. What’s up?” Raihan asked her before taking a large bite of the curry Sonia made… and burning his mouth. Sonia was going to scold him, but simply sighed and shook her head. He’d learn his lesson sooner or later.

“I still haven’t been able to defeat Kabu and earn the Fire badge… He’s a lot tougher than the other two.” She kicked at the dirt as she said this, feeling quite discouraged over her repeated losses. “I know the type match-ups are making it really difficult, but…”

“But, what?” Leon asked, tilting his head. “We’re in the Wild Area! There’s lots of Water and Rock-Type Pokemon around here!”

She groaned lightly, feeling embarrassed over what she was about to admit, hoping none of them would laugh. “I’ve never… caught a Pokemon before. Everyone on my team are Pokemon who were given to me. I wouldn’t even know what to do.”

Raihan, unfortunately, couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “You’ve never caught a Pokemon before?? That’s just--”

Sonia smacked the back of his head. “Fine!” she finished his sentence as he rubbed the back of his head and glared at her. “We can help you!”

“Really??” Hiki’s eyes lit up.

“Of course,” Leon responded. “All you had to do was say something! We may be rivals, but we’re all friends, too!”

“Thanks, guys! You’re the best!” She gave each of them hugs before going to help Sonia with clean up from their dinner. “How about we start tomorrow? I still have to hear all of your stories from the gyms you just fought!”

\---

Late that same night, all four trainers were bundled up in their sleeping bags to rest and everyone was sound asleep… well, all except for Hiki. She tossed and turned all night, too excited at the thought of catching a new Pokemon to add to her team. It was almost impossible for her to fall asleep! 

Suddenly, she wasn’t the only one awake, as a bright red beam of light shot into the sky nearby. “Huh?? What the??” Raihan was the first to react, sitting up quickly to see what was going on. Sonia and Leon both sat up from their sleeping bags rubbing their eyes.

Hiki slipped out of her sleeping bag and stood to get a better look. She had seen raid beams before, but this one seemed much different… It was much brighter. “Do you think it’s a raid?”

Once Sonia was a little more awake, she observed the beam, herself. “I know what that is! My Gran told me about this!” She got up to stand next to Hiki and pulled out her Rotom phone to confirm her suspicion. “That’s it! It’s definitely a raid, but this one is different. It’s a Gigantamax Raid! Gigantamax is like Dynamaxing, but the Pokemon changes form!” She told Hiki, since she wouldn’t have known this information before moving to Galar.

The boys joined them as Leon spoke next. “Oh, Gigantamax! Like my Charizard! We should go check it out! It might be something really cool and rare!”

The young trainers all ran toward the direction of the beam. As they grew closer, the air started to feel colder. Then, there in front of them stood a Gigantamax Lapras! It was quite beautiful in Hiki’s opinion!

“This is our first raid!” Raihan shouted, feeling rather excited. “Is everyone ready?” Everyone nodded and threw out their Pokeballs. 

The Lapras was a very strong opponent, leaving Hiki worried that it might be too much for them… it was certainly too much for her. Her own Pokemon didn’t last long in battle, being the first to faint. She felt that same discouraged feeling that she felt after losing against Kabu starting to resurface.

Noticing her change in mood, Leon nudged her gently with his elbow. “Hey, don’t worry about it! It will heal up soon from the Dynamax energy. You can still fight!” His bright smile was contagious and she smiled in return, feeling better almost instantly.

Once her Pokemon revived, she was sure to fight even harder than before, gaining more confidence in herself as the battle progressed. When Lapras started to get down to its last little bit of health, Leon Gigantamaxed his own Pokemon, causing Charizard to change its form completely. It looked so cool! And in just a few more turns, Lapras fainted… It was ready to be caught. But only one of the four trainers could catch it.

“Now’s your chance, Hiki!” Sonia called out to her. “Lapras is a Water-Type! It would be perfect for your next battle against Kabu!”

“A-Are you sure?? I barely did any damage to it… I think one of you deserve to catch it!” Hiki responded. She felt a little guilty getting to take the prize of a fight the others put more into.

“If you don’t hurry, it’ll get away and none of us will get to catch it!” Raihan said and tossed her an empty Pokeball.

Hiki looked at the two of them and then over to Leon who nodded to her. She took a deep breath and used her Dynamax Band to make the ball larger so she could capture the Pokemon and threw it with everything she had. The ball opened and pulled the giant Pokemon inside and dropped to the ground with a loud crash, kicking up dirt all around them.

When the dust cleared, they all opened their eyes and watched as the ball shook… once… twice… three times… and then… it shrunk down to the size of a regular Pokeball and clicked shut. Hiki caught Lapras! Leon jumped up with a fist in the air with excitement and Raihan pat her on the back.

“Hiki, you did it!” Sonia cried. “You caught your first ever Pokemon!”

Hiki ran over to the ball and took it in her hands and just stared at it in amazement. “I… couldn’t have done this without you guys. Thank you so much!”

“You would have done the same for any of us!” Raihan said. “Now we’d better hear that you get that Gym Badge soon! We’re rooting for you!”

“Yeah! He’s right! I want to battle all of you in the Pokemon League!” Leon added on. “It wouldn’t be as much fun any other way!”

\---

The next morning, the four trainers went their separate ways once again, each ready to take on a different Gym Leader. Hiki stood outside of the Motostoke Gym with Lapras’s ball in her hand. She could do this! After what her friends did for her, she _had_ to do this! She didn’t want to be so far behind them anymore. She wanted to catch up to them!

Once she was on the battlefield, she hugged the ball close to her chest and took a deep breath. It was time for her to prove she was just as strong as they were!

“I hope you’ve reconsidered your strategy this time around,” Kabu told her at the start of their battle. He knew all along that the solution to her losses would be to find a better type match-up, but it was his job to create a challenge for her and the other challengers, not give them hints on how to defeat him. But he could tell she had started to get frustrated after losing to him over and over.

This time around, their battle was much different. With the help of her newly caught Lapras, one that could Gigantamax for that matter, she was finally able to defeat him and earn her very own Fire Badge.

When he approached her to shake her hand, he told her something she didn’t even realize she needed to hear. “You know, Melony would be proud if she were here to watch our battle today. You showed some real skills out there!”

Hiki smiled and thanked him, taking the badge from him and adding it to her growing collection. “Thank you, Mr. Kabu! I plan to be a lot stronger by the time I face her!”

\---

Almost as if she knew they were talking about her, Hiki received a video call from her aunt the moment she stepped out of the stadium. “Hey, Aunt Mel! I guess you’re going to be the first to hear the news! I got my Fire Badge!” She held the little metal piece up to her phone to show it to her.

“Oh, Hiki dear, that’s wonderful! Congratulations!” Melony responded. “I also heard all about your little raid battle from last night. You caught your very own Gigantamax Lapras just like I did when I was a young Gym Challenger!”

“I sure did! I can’t wait to introduce you to her! ...Wait, how did you hear about that?” Hiki asked, confused as to where she would have heard about that.

“Your boyfriend told me all about it after he won my Ice Badge!” her aunt told her with a teasing smirk on her face.

“Wha? Boyfriend??” Now Hiki was _really_ confused. “I don’t have a boyfriend…”

“Oh?” The smirk on her face never faded. She knew this to be the case, but she couldn’t help but try to embarrass her niece. “Little Challenger Leon just wouldn’t stop talking about you when he got here! He seems to like you an awful lot.”

In an instant, Hiki’s entire face grew red. “Y-You must be losing it, Aunt Mel!! Leon doesn’t like me that way! We’re just friends!!” And there was no way she thought of him as any more than that!

Melony shrugged. “My mistake, then! You may want to apply some sunblock though, your face looks red as your new Fire Badge.” She couldn’t help but giggle at how flustered Hiki had gotten. 

Hiki groaned and looked away from her phone, completely embarrassed. “I gotta go, Aunt Mel! I’ve got lots of training to do for my next gym!” She was about to hang up when she decided to add one last comment. “And don’t embarrass me when Raihan and Sonia get there! I don’t have a boyfriend!!”

She hung up the phone and shoved it in her pocket, then looked around. Hopefully no one was around to hear the things her aunt was saying to her. She shook her head and decided to head out to the Wild Area. She could finally progress further and reach Hammerlocke! There were bound to be lots of Pokemon for her to encounter along the way, too!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I have been doing a lot of time skips already, but without knowing anything about the Gym Leaders who ran the gyms before some of the current, younger leaders, I am planning on only mentioning those that have been in them for quite some time! But I also have lots of ideas for stuff that goes on later in their story, so I'm wanting to only write about the important moments and not spend a whole lot of time on filler!
> 
> Thanks for reading my story up until now! I hope you've enjoyed it! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!!

Hiki smiled down at her new Fairy badge. Opal’s Gym was actually a little fun with the whole theater theme she had going on. Though it did make her a little sad to hear that she was hoping to retire within the next 10 years if she could find a trainer she seemed fit to replace her, but for now, she was still going strong!

With 5 badges in her possession, Hiki was more than halfway through her Gym Challenge. By now, both Leon and Raihan had all 8 of their badges and were training hard for the League, while Sonia, unfortunately, had decided to drop out of the competition. She had a lot of fun traveling with them and still met up with them to camp in the Wild Area every now and then, but she was more interested in helping with Professor Magnolia’s research than she was in competing for the Champion title.

The next Gym Hiki had to take on was that of her Aunt Melony’s. She was somewhat nervous to take her on, wondering if she was finally good enough to defeat her in battle. She wanted to train her team quite a bit before making her way back to Circhester. Her team had helped her through so much and all but Vulpix were fully evolved! She had Vulpix, Cinderace, Frosmoth, Lapras, Raichu, and Tsareena. She wanted to take all of them to the Wild Area!

\---

When she arrived to the Wild Area at the Hammerlocke gate, she heard her phone ring. She pulled it out to see Leon’s face on her screen. He had a bandage on his face, which told her he must have been training hard. “Hey, Lee! How’s your team coming along?”

“Great! You’ve gotta see how strong they are now!” He noticed the scenery around her. “You’re in the Wild Area, too? You should come to the Lake of Outrage! There’s lots of powerful Pokemon here! Raihan was here earlier, but he went back to town for more medicine and items.”

“Lake of Outrage? I don’t know if I’m ready for that…” When he said powerful Pokemon, she knew he wasn’t kidding. She had heard plenty of stories about how dangerous that particular area was.

“Aww, come on, Hiki! We can camp out! If any wild Pokemon try to bother us, Charizard can handle them!” he responded with a pout.

Hiki sighed and gave him a smirk. She could see right through him. “You don’t know how to get out of there, do you?”

Leon scoffed. “That’s not it at all! I just wanted to hear about your Gym battle with Opal!”

“Oh, is that all?” she teased. She pulled out her badge ring to show him her newly earned Fairy Badge. “Cinderace and Vulpix did a great job! Anyway, have fun! Train hard!”

“Hikiiii!” the trainer whined on the other end of the call. 

She giggled. “Oh, alright. I’ll be there in a bit!”

\---

Hiki rode atop her Lapras across the Lake to reach the island on the other side. When she got there, she hugged her Pokemon and thanked it before returning it to its Pokeball. All she had left to do was find out where Leon had wandered off to.

“Leon? Are you around here?” she shouted.

Her calls were responded by the sound of Leon’s Charizard letting out a cry to signal her where their location was. She smiled and ran in their direction, but… slowed her run when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It looked like a Pokemon nest. There were a few Pokemon messing with it, but it clearly didn’t belong to any of them.

Leon was finally within eyesight, so she waved him over and his Charizard scared off the hungry Pokemon who were near the nest. A few of the eggs were sadly taken or destroyed, but there were two that were safe.

“What should we do?” Hiki asked while cautiously moving closer to the nest to check on the eggs. She picked one of them up, gently and held it close. “It feels cold… I bet the mother isn’t around anymore…” It was sad to think about, but iIt didn’t necessarily mean anything dark had happened. It was common for Pokemon to be caught by unknowing trainers before they were able to hatch their eggs. She heard similar stories happen all the time in Johto.

Leon picked up the other egg and held it to his ear. It sounded like there was still life inside! “I have an idea! What if we take care of the eggs ourselves??” he suggested. It might be fun to hatch the eggs! They may not know what kind of Pokemon were inside, but they could still end up being important members of their teams!

“I dunno, Lee… Neither of us have ever hatched a Pokemon egg before.” She took a scarf out of her bag and wrapped it around the egg she held in her arms while whispering to it that everything would be okay soon.

“It can’t be that hard! And look at you! You’re already acting all motherly with it!” He laughed as he said this and she felt her face heat up. It was a good thing her aunt was nowhere near them. She already teased her enough saying that Leon was her boyfriend… if she found out they were really considering hatching Pokemon eggs together, she may never hear the end of it. He nudged her gently, snapping her out of that thought. “Come on! I know we can do it!”

“I guess you’re right!” she said with a giggle and looked over to him as he took his jacket off to wrap his own egg in it. 

A voice called out from afar, one that was familiar to them both. “Leon? Where did you go?? I told you not to go anywhere until I got back! Did you get lost again?”

“That sounds like Raihan!” Hiki commented. She stood and moved out into the open so he could spot her. “We’re over here, Rai! Come look what we found!”

He ran over to her. “Hiki, you’re here too?”

She chuckled. “Yeah… Lee called me earlier and I’m pretty sure it was because he didn’t know how to find his way out of here.”

Raihan rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if he would actually survive out here without us.” His gaze then went to the egg in her arms. “That a Pokemon egg??”

“Yeah! We rescued them from some hungry Pokemon! Leon has one too!” Hiki told him, while bringing him over to where Leon was. “We’re going to take care of them and hatch them since their mother isn’t around!”

“That’s… kinda cool you guys! Any clue on what they might be?” Raihan asked.

“Not a clue! But I want to raise it to be really strong no matter what!” Leon responded. “It’s going to have a place on my Champion team when I take that title!”

“Hey, you might be the strongest out of the three of us right now, but the Pokemon League is still a couple of months away! We still have plenty of time to train.” Raihan had a confident smile on his face. “I could very well be the one taking that title, you know!”

Neither of the other two trainers responded as they were too busy focusing on their eggs. It was kind of interesting to see how they both seemed so attached to them already, without even knowing what kind of Pokemon might be inside. Rather than trying to bicker with Leon over the Champion title like they usually did, he decided to drop it, just this once. Without telling them, he took out his Rotom phone and snapped a quick picture of the two of them. It might be funny to show them later.

\---

The three set up camp together that night and Hiki made curry for all of them. It was their first night camping together without Sonia joining them, which really made them miss her, but they were happy she was honest with what she wanted to do and they supported her decision to go back home. After dinner, the boys took turns helping Hiki train. One would keep an eye on the eggs, while the other would battle with her. They stayed up with her all night until she felt confident enough to challenge her aunt for an Ice Badge.

The next morning, they all packed their bags. Hiki placed her egg gently in her backpack, making sure her scarf was wrapped snugly around it. Circhester was usually pretty cold no matter what time of year it was, so she didn’t want to risk the egg getting too cold.

She stood and put her bag on her back and turned to the two boys who were busy packing their own bags. This was probably going to be the last time they would see each other in person until the Pokemon League competition. Without warning, she walked over to them and squeezed between them to hug them at the same time. “I still have 3 badges to get, but I _will_ be ready to battle you guys at the Pokemon League!”

“Well I’d sure hope so! We’d be pretty disappointed if you weren’t, Hiki!” Raihan responded. “We’ll be rooting for you until you complete your Gym Challenge!”

“Thank you…” She hugged them one more time before stepping away. “And Lee, make sure you call me as soon as that egg hatches!”

“You’d better do the same!” he responded. 

She chuckled. “Don’t worry, I will!” She adjusted the strap of her backpack. “I’ll see you boys soon! Train hard!!” She waved goodbye as she walked back toward the Lake to surf off with her Lapras.

\---

Later that same afternoon, Hiki arrived in Circhester. She was ready to take on the gym and earn her 6th badge. The gym mission itself was hardly a problem for her, as she had all of the pitfall locations memorized from when she used to help out as a Gym Trainer. 

She was nervous to get out on the battlefield and face Melony, but if she didn’t win this badge, she would never get to make it to the Pokemon League with Leon and Raihan.

“You finally made it, Hiki, dear!” Melony said to her when they finally met face to face. “But don’t think that just because you are family that I am going to go easy on you! I’m going to freeze your team solid!”

“Then this should be fun! Don’t hold back, Aunt Mel!” They both walked to their own sides of the field before calling out their first Pokemon. 

This battle was definitely the most challenging one she had yet, but she was nowhere near ready to give up. She knew most of Melony’s tricks, but for that exact reason, the Ice Leader chose to change things up a little to keep Hiki on her toes.

The battle concluded with both trainers Gigantamaxing their Laprases. They were almost evenly matched, but Hiki’s was just a little bit faster and got the last hit in, winning her the battle. Hiki stood, eyes wide as her aunt walked up to her to shake her hand as she did after every Gym battle, only she pulled Hiki’s hand to pull her into a tight hug.

“Ohhh, you’ve grown so much since you left! I’m so proud of you!!” When reality finally set in, Hiki returned the hug, tightly. She did it! Melony pulled out an Ice Badge, just for her, and handed it to her. “You’ve earned this!”

“Thank you, Aunt Mel… That was a really fun battle!” she told her. “Probably the most fun I’ve ever-- Huh?” Suddenly she felt something moving in her bag. Was the egg okay?

Melony put a hand to her face and looked at her niece with confusion. “Is everything alright, Hiki?”

“I… hope so…” She pulled the egg out of her bag and noticed a little crack in the top. At first she felt a little worried that she had damaged it somehow, but then it started shaking in her hands.

“Oh my, you have a Pokemon egg with you? It looks like it’s hatching! Come on, let’s head back to the locker room,” Melony said as she put her hand on Hiki’s back and led her off the battlefield.

When they got back to Melony’s private locker room, she pulled a few towels off a shelf to have something soft to rest the egg on. Hiki pulled out her phone after setting the egg down gently. She had to call Leon! ...but what if her aunt teased her again? She especially didn’t want that to happen where he could actually hear her! She would just have to call him after she left the gym… 

“Where did you find this?” Melony asked as the cracks in the egg started getting bigger.

“In the Wild Area when I was with… uh, my friends!” The baby Pokemon inside the egg broke the top open and popped its little head out. She recognized what Pokemon that was! A trainer she battled before used one! “Wow… it’s a Dreepy!”

Hiki’s phone began to ring while she was distracted with her cute new Pokemon and Melony lifted the device off the bench, seeing a certain trainer’s picture on the caller ID. “I see… and would one of those friends happen to have been Leeeonn~?” she asked in a teasing voice.

“H-huh?” She turned around with the Pokemon in her arms to see her aunt holding up her phone, a call from Leon coming through. Oh boy… 

Melony hit the accept call button and was the first to greet the boy on the other end of the call. “Why hello there, Leon! I hope you’ve been well!”

“Oh… Hi Melony! Yeah, I have! Thanks!” He tilted his head in confusion. “Uhh… is Hiki around? I have something important to talk to her about!”

“Aunt Mel, give me that!!” She swiped her phone away from her and glared in her direction and mouthed the words ‘Don’t embarrass me!’ to which Melony could only grin in response. “Sorry Lee… But guess what!! My egg hatched! Check it out!” She held up her baby Dreepy to the camera.

“Oh! Mine hatched too! And it was a Dreepy just like yours! I guess that means we have twins now!” he chuckled and so did Melony, though she was laughing for a different reason. What he said made it sound like they had children.

Hiki felt herself growing red again and she threw the towels the egg was originally sitting on at her aunt. “Eheh, yeah I guess that’s true! Oh man, wait until Raihan hears what they were! He’s going to be so jealous!”

“You’re probably right! Guess we will have to break it to him at the Pokemon League!” Leon said with a laugh. “I should go, though! I need to introduce Dreepy to the rest of my team! I’ll see you later, Hiki!”

Hiki hung up the call and sat down on the bench. “Oh yeah… If I want Dreepy on my team… that means someone will have to be taken off…”

“You’re right,” Melony said, sitting down next to her. “Do you have any thoughts on which Pokemon that’s going to be?”

“I’m… really not sure,” she responded, pulling her Pokeballs from her bag and staring down at them all. They were all very important to her. She couldn’t imagine leaving any of them behind.

“It’s an important decision, so try not to rush yourself, dear! I’m sure whoever you choose will understand! This Pokemon is very young and needs your care!”

She nodded in response, then released all six of her Pokemon from their Pokeballs. “There’s someone I’d like all of you to meet!” she told them, holding the baby Dreepy in her arms. Each of her Pokemon greeted the small dragon in their own way, happy to meet the newest member of their team. “I’ve made a very important promise to take care of this little one. You see, she just hatched from an egg and can’t take care of herself just yet. But the thing is… I’m only allowed to carry six Pokemon on me at a time… I hope you all understand.”

Her Pokemon each let out little cries, and her Vulpix nuzzled at her feet. They all knew exactly what this meant, and were ready for any decision she was going to make. However, there was one Pokemon that responded slightly differently than the others. Recognizing her as it’s original trainer, Frosmoth fluttered over to Melony and made happy little noises.

The older trainer reached out to pet the Pokemon and laughed lightly. “I think your decision is being made for you, Hiki. Why don’t I keep Frosmoth here to battle with me in the gym?”

Hiki turned to the moth and smiled. “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked it.

The Pokemon fluttered around happily, showing her that it really was willing to stay behind with the Gym leader. 

“Okay… that settles it then.” Hiki smiled and handed her aunt the Pokeball before giving her a hug. “Thank you for watching after her, Aunt Mel! I’m sure you will train her well!”

\---

After saying her goodbyes to her aunt and her former Pokemon, Hiki left the gym to head on to the next town, cuddling her new Pokemon in her arms!


	4. Chapter 4

The day finally came… It was the day of the Pokemon League competition! The small amount of challengers who had successfully collected all 8 Gym Badges were eligible to compete in a tournament against each other. The last trainer standing would then move on to the Champion Cup where they would be placed in another tournament with the Galar Gym Leaders, and whoever won this tournament, whether it be the challenger or a Gym Leader, would get to challenge the Champion for their title.

Hiki earned her final badge roughly two weeks for the competition, which didn’t leave her very much time to train and prepare, but she felt ready. After making another visit to the Lake of Outrage, Hiki and her Vulpix found an Ice Stone, which Vulpix had accepted from her to evolve into a Ninetales! And her baby Dreepy was quite strong now too! It may not be fully evolved, like Leon’s or the rest of her own team for that matter, but she had to admit it was a pretty strong Drakloak and she was very proud!

All of the challengers entered the stadium together as Chairman Rose announced the start of the tournament. Hiki spotted Leon and Raihan on the field not too far away from her and waved to them both. She really hoped she would get the chance to battle them both, no matter the result! Though, to be able to battle both of them, meant she would have to defeat at least one of them, considering she wouldn’t be able to move on if the first one she battled beat her. She shook her head. All of those thoughts were giving her a headache!

She looked up at the screen to see the match ups. She wasn’t match with either of her friends, and neither of them were matched with each other, either. For now she was matched with another trainer, who looked to be a couple of years older than her. Age didn’t necessarily determine their skill level, though, so Hiki still felt confident in her team!

Raihan’s match was first, though, so she watched from the locker room TV. It seemed to be going really well for him! His Flygon ended up sweeping his opponent’s entire team, which was incredible! She hadn’t seen them battle since it evolved from a Vibrava, but she could tell they had come a long way! She was so happy for him!

There were a few more battles between his and her own, and she was starting to feel anxious. She couldn’t tell if it was out of nerves or excitement, but she was ready to get out there and battle either way! She clutched her Ninetales’ Pokeball. Ninetales was her main partner and had been with her ever since the beginning! She couldn’t wait for them to battle together in her very first Pokemon League battle! They were going to win together!

At least… that was what she had thought. Her opponent was much tougher than anyone she had ever battled before… For every strategy she had planned, he seemed to have something to counter it. Before she knew it, she was down to her last Pokemon, while he still had half of his team at full health. She could feel herself sweating. She brought out her Lapras, hoping to bring down the rest of his team when they Gigantamaxed, but it was no good… He brought out a Pokemon of his own who could also Gigantamax, a Machamp. It was far too strong, especially with it’s type advantage over Lapras. 

She watched in shock as her Pokemon shrank down to its regular size and fainted, the announcer calling out that her opponent was the winner. It was over already… She didn’t even stand a chance… 

She swallowed hard and went to shake the other trainer’s hand, avoiding eye contact. She didn’t want to be a sore loser. She really didn’t! She didn’t even care about winning the champion title! She was here to have fun… So why did this loss sting so badly?

She hurried back to the locker rooms as the announcer introduced Leon and his opponent, as they were next. She passed by him in the hallway, but her eyes were glued to the ground as she walked, tears streaming down her face. Leon stood still for a moment, watching her sadly as she quickly made her way to the back, wishing he could do something to help. The announcer called his name again, questioning why he hadn’t come out for his battle just yet and he turned the other direction to run out on the field. He’d talk to her about it after the battle, for sure! She was like his best friend! He hated seeing her sad.

Actually… he _really_ hated seeing her sad. Why was it so painful to see her like that? 

He patted the sides of his face. He had to focus! It was his turn to battle and he wasn’t about to let himself get distracted! It might only make her feel worse… She would want him to still give it his all, no matter what!

Raihan could see how hard she was taking her loss as well. When she entered the locker room, where he had watched her match from, he ran over to meet her at the door to speak to her. “That was pretty brutal. I’m so sorry, Hiki, but--”

It was like she didn’t even acknowledge that he was talking to her. She walked right past him and grabbed her things out of her locker and he watched as she sat on a bench on the other side of the room and put her face in her hands. This was really hitting her hard, wasn’t it…

He sighed and walked over to take a seat next to her and placed a hand on her back. “Hiki… You were pretty awesome out there!”

She lifted her head from her hands and shot a glare in his direction that read _‘Did you even watch the battle?’_

Okay, she didn’t seem to like that. “Hey, I mean it! I could really tell how hard you and your Pokemon have trained!”

“Yeah, but what does that even matter…” She sniffled. “We couldn’t even win our first match.”

“So what? You made it here, didn’t you? That’s still a big accomplishment!”

She looked down at her hands and fiddled with Ninetales’ Pokeball. He wasn’t wrong… Out of all of the trainers who started the Gym Challenge at the same time they did, only about 10 of them had made it this far. “Yeah, I guess so…” she mumbled. “But I wanted to be able to battle you and Leon…” She knew all along that she wouldn’t make it to the final round or anything, but she at least wanted to make it far enough to battle them. 

He smirked. “You know you can challenge us to a battle any time you want, right?”

“This is different…” she told him. “We all made this journey together and… the day I met Lee, he told me that he wanted to see me on the battlefield today. And as we all got closer, I wanted that more and more. I really thought I was going to get the chance to. It just felt like the best way to finish this journey…”

“I would have loved to battle you! Though, I wouldn’t have gone easy on you because of our friendship or anything,” he said with a chuckle. 

Hiki elbowed him lightly. “Well I sure hope not!”

\---

Leon’s battle was a breeze. He defeated his opponent without any difficulty. As soon as it was over, he quickly made his way back to the locker room to find Hiki. Hopefully she was doing okay.

When he got there, the young trainer saw Raihan giving Hiki a hug and her pulling away, smiling and laughing at something he just said. Why did that make him feel uncomfortable? Clearly she was feeling better, which made him happy, but for some reason… he was disappointed that he couldn’t have been the one to comfort her. His negative thoughts dissolved somewhat quickly, however, when she had spotted him. Her eyes lit up and she called out his name and waved for him to come over. That reaction made everything better!

“We just caught the end of your match! Congratulations, Lee!” she said to him as he walked over to her and Raihan.

“Thanks! And I’m sorry about your battle… You okay?”

She gave him a warm smile and nodded. “I will be! I’m going to meet up with Sonia in the stands and watch the rest of the tournament with her! So you two better not let us down, got it??”

\---

Hiki spent the rest of the tournament in the audience with Sonia. It was nice to finally reconnect with her after not seeing her for a while. They called each other often after Sonia dropped out of the Gym Challenge, but she missed being able to hang out with her very first Galar friend.

They watched as the battles grew more and more intense, the match-ups between the challengers getting more heated as the tournament progressed. And Leon and Raihan were both on fire, neither losing a single battle. Things got really interesting, however, when they turned out to be the last two challengers left in the competition.

It was the final round. Leon VS Raihan. Hiki and Sonia spent almost the entire match sitting on the edge of their seats. Watching their previous matches were a lot easier. They knew exactly who to root for, but in this battle it was their two closest friends up against each other. Only one could win… How could they choose a side?? 

The battle was extremely close, with Leon ultimately coming out on top. Hiki felt a little bad for Raihan, since even after all this time, he still couldn’t beat Leon. The two were each other’s biggest rivals right from the start! However, she couldn’t help but feel completely overjoyed for Leon. He was one step closer to getting that Champion crown!

Clearly, Raihan himself was very disappointed in his loss, but in the end, he was glad to have lost to someone like Leon. Sure they were rivals, but they were really good friends! And he wanted to be supportive of him! After taking a deep breath, he smiled and walked over to him to congratulate him.

“That was a great battle, Leon!” Raihan told him as they shook hands.

Leon smiled brightly. “It sure was! The best battle I’ve had this whole tournament!”

“Yeah well, you’d better go out there tomorrow and win that Champion Cup! We’re all cheering you on!” He pulled his hand away and turned to walk away, but he stopped to add one last comment. “Just don’t get too comfy up there as Champ. I’ll be back next year to take that title for myself!”

Leon couldn’t help but laugh. He was looking forward to it! 

_“And there you have it! Challenger Leon is our Pokemon League Tournament winner this season! Challenger Leon will have the opportunity tomorrow to battle his way through the Champion Cup Tournament and take on our very own Champion! Join us back here tomorrow for another day of exciting battles!”_

\---

The next day, Hiki attended the tournament with Sonia, and this time they were joined by Raihan. Everything went exactly as they expected, with Leon succeeding in each of his battles against the Gym Leaders, quickly rising to the final battle against the Champion. 

When the battle they had all been waiting for finally arrived, Hiki felt her own nerves skyrocket. She might have been even more nervous than Leon, himself! She cheered loudly for her friend, feeling excited each time he took down one of the Champion’s Pokemon. However, anytime one of _his_ Pokemon would faint, Hiki would grab Raihan’s arm and shake it in frustration, never taking her eyes off the battlefield. “Come on, Lee! You can do it!!” she would call out. At first, Raihan was a little annoyed that he had become the target for her to release her frustrations, but eventually he found it amusing that she was getting so into Leon’s battle. Those two had a large appreciation for each other that everyone who knew them could very obviously see, even if they couldn’t see it themselves.

The battle was finally starting to come to a close and Hiki could hardly sit still! Both Leon and the Champion were down to their last Pokemon. Charizard was the final member on Leon’s team, and she had complete faith in him. He was the strongest Pokemon on his entire team! And the Champion’s final Pokemon had already taken some damage from his previous Pokemon, which was Dragapult. They were so close… 

And just as she believed they could… they won. They really won! Hiki finally released her death grip on Raihan’s arm and jumped up and down from her spot in the audience. She was so happy for him! Proud even! He had always been the strongest trainer she knew, but over the course of the months they spent taking part in the Gym Challenge, he had grown at an incredible rate.

\---

After the awards ceremony, which included probably over a thousand pictures and interviews, Hiki, Raihan, and Sonia all waited back in the locker room, being given special permission to be back there as friends of the new Galar Champion, and waited for him to come back there so they could all congratulate him in person.

He was so happy to see them when he got there, excited to show off his new trophy and even flaunt the fancy cape they put around his shoulders! It was a solid red with a diamond pattern on the inside, with fluffy cream colored faux fur around the edges.

“You almost look like royalty,” Raihan joked.

“Yeah? You think so?” he asked, picking up the sides of the cape and turning from side to side. Since he was still a kid, the cape was quite oversized on him.

“I like it!” Hiki chimed in while holding his trophy, carefully. “And your trophy too! But it’s so heavy!”

Leon chuckled and took the trophy back, holding it pridefully.

“So… what happens now?” Sonia asked curiously. 

“Well… I think I have to stay up here in Wyndon for a while. They have a special suite for me at the hotel and everything!” he told them.

“Huh… but what about your family? Aren’t they going to miss you?” Raihan asked.

“Yeah… But we already knew that I’d be away for a while if I became Champion! And besides, my mum can visit anytime she wants! ...For the next couple months at least.”

Hiki tilted her head to the side. “Only the next couple months? She can’t visit after that?”

Leon took a seat on the bench, placing the trophy next to him as he thought carefully about what he was going to say next. He was too excited to keep this a secret from them! Even if he promised not to tell too many people about it just yet. “Okay,” he whispered. “I gotta tell you guys something important, but you can’t tell anyone yet! Promise??”

The other three sat on the floor in front of him and nodded, eyes wide. Was he about to tell them some top secret League info? Something that… for some reason, was so big that his own mother would be kept from visiting??

“I’m going to be a big brother!” he told them, excitedly. “But my parents aren’t telling anyone outside of family just yet! They just want to make sure everything goes well for the next few weeks!”

Sonia gasped and jumped up to give him a hug. She had known his family for most of her life, so hearing this news made her especially happy. “Lee, that’s great!! How long have you known?”

“About a week now! I can’t wait to teach my little brother or sister everything I know!” he responded.

“That little baby is going to have such a cool brother to look up to! The thought of having an older brother who is the region’s Champion?? So cool!” Hiki said.

Raihan smiled. “The baby can learn from all of us! Like how to kick this Champion’s butt!” he said, implying that he will have done so by the time the baby is born.

“You wish!” Leon responded.

\---

The group of trainers spent the next hour or so talking about Leon’s future baby brother, Hop, until the stadium’s staff had to come in and remind them of the celebration party the League was holding in Leon’s honor. A party sounded like a lot of fun! And it was! ...until they could hardly spend five minutes with Leon before someone was pulling him away for pictures or to congratulate him on his win. It was to be expected, however. He had just won a major tournament! They figured it was only going to be that way for the next few days, and after that they could go back to hanging out any time they wanted.

Little did they know, that was going to be much harder than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be about a 2 year time skip after this chapter! Just a heads up!
> 
> Thank you for reading this far! Please let me know what you think in the comments! I really enjoy getting feedback!


	5. Chapter 5

It had been two years since Leon had been crowned the Champion of the Galar Region, achieving his dream at such a young age. Around this time, Sonia began helping her grandmother in the lab, researching Dynamax Pokemon. And Raihan trained his Pokemon to be even stronger than they already were, planning to challenge Leon for his title. Occasionally, Hiki would train with Raihan while the other two were busy, but she always grew bored of the battles being so repetitive, considering how much stronger he was than her. It wasn’t like _she_ wanted to take Leon’s title from him anyway. That rivalry was better left to Raihan.

By then, Hiki made the decision to head back to her home region, in hopes of discovering what her own dream really was. It seemed as if all of her friends knew where they wanted to be in life, but she still had no idea. She wanted to travel through Johto, hoping to find a goal that she could be happy pursuing. She just hoped her friends would be supportive… 

Hiki paced around as she waited for each of her friends to arrive. She asked them to meet her in their old "hideout" in the Wild Area where they used to meet with each other and camp together during their gym challenge. She had to tell them, but she wasn't quite sure how they would take it.

Finally, they arrived. "Alright, we're all here. What did you need to tell us, Hiki?" Raihan asked. "Hope it's important! I was in the middle of training Flygon for my next match with this guy!" He lightly punched Leon's arm as he said this.

Hiki kicked a rock that was in front of her, something she did often when she was nervous. "Well… I'd say this _is_ pretty important."

"Then you have our full attention!" Leon responded with a bright smile. 

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay… well you see… all of you have been working so hard lately chasing after your dreams, and I… still have no idea what my dream is."

"That's okay, Hiki! You don't have to know right away! We're still kids, so you have plenty of time!" Sonia said. 

"Yeah, but the thing is, I'm just not sure I'm going to find it here in Galar." Hiki lowered her head. "I called my mom last night and she offered to buy me a ticket to come back home to see her and sign me up for the Johto Pokemon League this year."

Leon felt his heart drop to his stomach. "Wait… you're leaving?? You won't be here to see my Champion Cup battle this year?" But she was his best friend! She had been there for every battle since he had become champion!

"I'll still be able to stream it live! I'd never miss it for anything! I know how importa--"

"It's not the same. You promised you'd always be there to cheer me on." He shook his head, the disappointment very clear in his voice.

"Lee…" Sonia started and placed a hand on his shoulder but he just shrugged it off and stormed away. She then turned to Hiki, with a worried expression on her face. "Hiki, I'm so sorry… I don't know what's gotten into him."

Raihan chased after Leon, and Hiki and Sonia could hear him shouting at him in the distance. Hiki sat back on a rock and sighed. "No, it's okay. I should have seen this coming…" 

"Don't worry about it, okay? He will be fine. Just give him some time! He'll realize what a big step this will be for you and I just know he'll support you! He's probably just sad that we won't be able to see you for a while, which is something we are all feeling." Sonia hugged her friend, tightly. "We are going to miss you, but you've gotta do what's best for you!"

Hiki returned the hug with a thankful smile on her face. "Thank you, Sonia."

\---

Over the next few days, Hiki hadn't heard a single word from Leon and grew very worried. It was almost time for her to board the train that would take her to the airport in Wyndon and only Sonia and Raihan had shown up to see her off. 

"You have everything you need, right?" Sonia asked. 

"I think so," Hiki responded, a little distracted as she searched through the crowd, hoping Leon was only running late because he got lost again. "Do you think he's coming?"

Raihan sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Hiki. I tried… He didn't answer his phone."

_"This is the final boarding call for the 2:00pm train to Wyndon. Final boarding call."_

Hiki groaned before hugging the two of her friends. "I guess we're out of time. Just… tell him I said goodbye, okay? I'm really going to miss all of you!" She grabbed her bag and hurried to the gate, quickly turning her back to her friends so they wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.

\---

She got to her seat and wiped her eyes. She knew he was upset, but would it really have killed him to at least say goodbye? 

Not long after the train began moving, Hiki heard whispers throughout the train car. _"Is that who I think it is??" "Was he supposed to board the train or something?" "I heard a rumor that he gets lost all the time, so maybe he missed the train!"_

"Hm?" Hiki peered out the window to see an unexpected scene; a Charizard flying alongside the train! But not just any Charizard…

_"You're right! It's Champion Leon!" "Someone get the conductor's attention! I think he's trying to get on!"_

"Y-You're kidding!" Hiki said to herself as she stared out the window in disbelief. What did he think he was doing??

Before long, the train came to a halt and many passengers on the train pulled out their Rotom phones and snapped pictures, cheering as their new passenger recalled his Charizard and boarded the train.

"Sorry, excuse me. Uh, thank you! That's very kind of you but there's someone I need to see," Hiki heard him say as he pushed through the crowd. He stopped in front of her with an apologetic look on his face.

"...you're late," she told him once the car quieted down, unable to hide the disappointment she had been feeling. "I thought you hated me for leaving."

"Hate you? You're my best friend, I could never hate you!" He sat down next to her, fiddling with something in his hand. "Honestly, I had every intention of coming to see you off with Sonia and Raihan, but I… might have forgotten where the station was."

Hiki couldn't help but crack a laugh. "I should've known better… I'm just glad you made it. I would have been so mad at you if you didn't say goodbye!" She smacked his arm playfully, before crossing her arms and sticking her bottom lip out in a pout.

"I know, I know…" He didn't want to tell her that Sonia and Raihan noticed her crying as she boarded the train. "But hey! I brought you a going away present! Just don't open it until you get to Johto, okay? It hatched last night!"

He handed her a Pokeball with a ribbon tied around it. "A Pokemon? Really?" She stared down at the ball in her hands. "Thank you, Leon! I promise I'll take really good care of it!"

"I trust that you will!" he responded with a wide grin. A moment later, however, the grin faded and he sighed. "Listen… I'm really sorry for the way I reacted the other day in the Wild Area. I guess I just never expected you to want to go so far away, but it wouldn't be fair to ask you to stay if you weren't happy here."

"I won't be gone forever, silly! I just want to get out and see the world… discover the type of trainer I'm really meant to be! I'm just not cut out to be a champion like you or a researcher like Sonia, and as much as my mother would want me to I can't see myself as a gym leader like Raihan is training to be. I want to do my own thing, you know?" 

"Yeah, I understand! And no matter what that ends up being, I'll be rooting for you the whole way!" he told her, while pumping a fist in the air. "But there's just one favor I want to ask of you."

"Hm?" Hiki tilted her head. "What is it?"

"Don't forget to call! All the time!! Even if I'm busy, I want to hear what you're up to! I just know you'll have lots of exciting adventures out there!" he exclaimed. 

"I promise! And _you_ try your best not to lose your title to Raihan," she said with a giggle. "He would be unbearable as champion!" she joked.

"Please, there's no way I'm going to lose my title to _anyone_! I bet I'll still be undefeated by the time you get back!" he said with his hands on his hips. He sounded so confident! But then again, this was how he always was.

\---

When the train arrived at the station, the two young trainers stepped outside and turned to face each other. Hiki had a sad smile on her face and almost had second thoughts about leaving. She really didn't know if she would make any new friends when she got back to Johto. It could be lonely.

Leon wrapped his arms tightly around his friend and hugged her tightly. "You're going to be great out there! I believe in you!"

Tears filled her eyes again for what felt like the hundredth time that day upon hearing him say those words. They meant so much more to her than even she understood. He was such a good friend. "Thank you, Lee. I won't let you down!"

She grabbed her things and walked toward the airport entrance, but before going inside she turned and waved to him one last time.

\---

Hours later when she arrived in Johto, she sat on the bed in her old bedroom and held the Pokeball Leon had given her as a gift. He said it had just hatched recently… Did that mean this was from an egg he had received? Her curiosity was too strong to wait any longer and she released the creature from the ball.

"Char?" it cried. What sat on the floor in front of her was none other than a baby Charmander! How on earth did he get ahold of a Charmander egg?? Either way, she felt so much love for the small Pokemon instantly.

"Welcome to the team, Charmander. I'm your new trainer, Hiki! It's nice to meet you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another big time skip coming! We are finally done with all the childhood back story stuff!
> 
> If you are interested in finding out what happens with Hiki while she is away from Galar, I plan to have a whole separate story that dives into those adventures soon!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the future, I plan to write a whole separate story on Hiki's adventures throughout the other regions of the Pokemon World! This particular story is more about Hiki's relationship with Leon and where her life takes her in the future. If I get enough interest, I will work on that story when this one is completed!
> 
> As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Six years had gone by since Hiki had left for Johto. Since then she had traveled all over the world, trying new things in each region she visited. From collecting more badges in Johto and Kanto, to trying out Pokemon Contests in Hoenn and Sinnoh and performing with her Pokemon in the Kalos Region’s Pokemon Showcases. She even starred in a movie while she was in Unova at Pokestar Studios! But still… nothing she tried felt right.

While she was away, she would use her Rotom phone to video call her friends and tell them all about her adventures. Sometimes she would call just one of them and sometimes on very rare occasions they would all be together when she would call. It reminded her of the times they would hang out together during their gym challenge. If their paths crossed in the Wild Area on their way to each of their next respective gyms, they would set up camp. They would challenge each other to battles and show off their newly caught Pokemon while Sonia made curry for everyone.

However, while she loved talking to everyone as a group, Hiki often found herself enjoying calling Leon the most. Out of everyone, he was the one she considered her best friend. She couldn’t explain the comfort she felt after seeing his smiling face answer her call after a long day, even if it didn’t happen  _ every _ time she called. He was busy, after all. But even still, if he didn’t answer, she always either received an apologetic text, or a call back later that evening.

While Hiki was in Kalos, she received a phone call from Raihan, something that struck her as unusual. Sure, she called him every now and then with the video chat function and the two texted regularly, but a phone call was a little out of the ordinary. She answered, worried that something may be wrong, but was relieved to hear that wasn’t the case by the tone in his voice. He did, however, ask when she was planning to return to Galar, which was a question she wasn’t expecting from him.

But the thing was… she really didn’t even know the answer. She still hadn’t figured out what she was meant to do, where she was destined to be. When she asked why he wanted to know, the only answer he would give her was that she was very missed. Little did she know, what exactly had led to such a phone call.

\---

_ Earlier that afternoon in Galar… _

Over the recent years, Leon had realized how much he had fallen for his childhood friend, Hiki. He now knew what all the confusing feelings he went through when they were younger meant, like how excited he would get when she would attend his matches and cheer him on, or how happy he was when they decided to hatch those Dreepy eggs together, but also… how sad he felt when Raihan got to spend more time with her than he did once he became Champion. And even now that they were older, Raihan was able to talk to her more often than he could, and it made him feel… off. Disappointed? Jealous?? He worried that he may wake up one day and find out the two were… together.

It was one of Leon’s days off before the start of the Gym Challenge season. He had more free time just before the season started and occasionally he would try to make plans with one of his friends, or go back home and see his mother and little brother. That day, he decided to meet up with Raihan for lunch in a cafe in Hammerlocke. Raihan was distracted by his phone, as he was most days anymore, scrolling through Pokegram, posting selfies of them hanging out together that he took when they first got there… Occasionally he would respond to text messages that were coming through. One message happened to make him laugh, which made Leon curious.

“Who’re you talking to?” he asked.

“It’s Hiki! She’s been performing in those Pokemon Showcases over in Kalos!”

“I know, I’ve heard…” He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He felt that pang of jealousy resurfacing once again and decided to just come out and ask what was on his mind, but tried to sound casual about it. “So, uh… you like her or anything?”

Raihan looked up at him, an eyebrow raising. That was a question he certainly wasn’t expecting. “Of course I do! We’ve been friends for how long now?” Obviously he knew what Leon actually meant by his question, but he couldn’t help but try to mess with him just a bit.

“No, no. What I mean is… do you  _ like  _ her?”

“Oh, you mean like would I date her?” he asked, continuing to play along.

“Yeah! Just, you know, wondering… since you’re always talking to her,” he responded, trying not to let his own feelings get in the way of the discussion.

“Well… she  _ is _ pretty cute.” He looked up from his phone again to watch his reaction. “Think I should ask her out?”

“No! --er, I mean, I don’t… know.” Leon frantically started rubbing the back of his head. With Raihan’s charm, if he asked Hiki out it could be all over for him. He tried searching for the words to say, but nothing else was coming out. But then Raihan… just started laughing.

“Lee, I’m kidding! I know about your crush on her, have for years.”

Leon breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank Arceus-- Wait, you do?? How??”

He snickered. “Everyone in Galar knows how you feel about Hiki. You make it so obvious.”

“I-I do not!”

“Have you forgotten that you practically stopped the train that was taking her to her flight just so you could see her before she left?” Raihan took a sip of his drink. “It was all over the news. People start talking about things like that…”

“Oh, right… I never really thought about that.” Though in his defense, he didn’t know he felt that way about her back then. He just knew he how much he hated to see her leave, and wanted to make sure she knew he would miss her. “But if you knew, why didn’t you say anything??”

Raihan simply shrugged. “Ehh, I didn’t want to embarrass you. I figured you’d bring it up yourself eventually. I just can’t believe it’s taken you this long!”

“Yeah, well… I’ve been busy and so has she. I didn’t want to complicate things, especially not while she’s so far away.”

“She’s gotta come back eventually, though! She told us she would.”

“But who knows when that will ever be…” Leon said with a sigh, but then looked up to see Raihan making a phone call. “Wait, what are you doing??”

“I’m getting answers!” Raihan responded. 

\---

After receiving that call from Raihan, Hiki really started to realize how much she missed Galar… How much she missed her friends, especially Leon. She was having lunch with a friend she had made in Kalos when he called her and after hanging up, she ended up telling her all about how much she wanted to go back, and how much she missed everyone, but at one point without realizing it, all she could talk about was… him.

She just had to see him again! She knew he was much busier now than he was when he first became Champion. He had more than tripled the record of the previous Champion with how long he had remained undefeated. His popularity was very high and just about every company in Galar wanted to sponsor him… He had multiple meetings a day, not to mention photoshoots and filming commercials. And from what he told her on some of their calls, Chairman Rose could be pretty strict with how much free time he had.

But even if she only got to see him for a short period of time, it would be worth it. Melony even offered to let her move back in for a while! So that meant they could see each other often if his schedule allowed it!

\---

Hiki’s nerves were starting to get to her as she entered the crowded stadium. Just as they had every year, many fans were gathered for that year’s Gym Challenge Opening Ceremonies. With the help of her Aunt Melony’s Gym Leader status, she was able to get a pretty good seat. Cheers filled the stadium as Chairman Rose entered the field to welcome everyone to the ceremony and introduced the gym leaders. Among those gym leaders was Raihan, who while he still hadn’t defeated Leon for the champion title even after all of those years, had earned himself his own gym and was the strongest of them all. Hiki chuckled to herself as he waved to the crowd and took photos of himself on his Rotom phone. Things just never change with some people, but she was glad to see that he seemed happy.

She was almost certain Sonia was somewhere in the audience like she was and as the gym challengers gathered on the field she glanced around, wondering if she could spot her, but had no luck. It wasn’t surprising with all the people around, though. As she looked around, the crowd’s cheers grew much louder, deafening even, as Rose then introduced Galar’s undefeated Champion. Hiki quickly turned her attention back to the field, where she saw fireworks explode on the ground. Once the smoke cleared, there he was with his Charizard… her best friend, Leon. She felt herself involuntarily gasp the moment she saw him standing there, doing his same silly signature pose he always did when they were kids. The crowd really seemed to love it, though.

The ceremony didn’t last long and Hiki’s nerves grew stronger as she exited the stadium. She didn’t tell anyone that she was back, wanting to surprise them. Melony, of course, was in on the surprise and gathered her three friends together and led them outside to where Hiki was waiting.

The first to notice her was Sonia. “Guys, look it’s Hiki!” she shouted before running to hug her friend. Before she knew it, both Raihan and Leon were in on the hug as well. Tears filled her eyes as she was filled with so many different emotions. She didn’t even know where to begin or what to say! 

She laughed through her tears as she pulled away from them. “Long time no see, you guys! Sorry for the wai--” She was interrupted by a sudden flash. Raihan was already taking pictures… She couldn’t help but laugh even more. “Hey! Is that necessary right this moment?”

“What? Don’t you think such an important reunion deserves to be documented?” he responded.

Hiki rolled her eyes playfully. “I guess that’s true. I hope I didn’t pick a bad time to come back. I would really love to catch up with all of you!”

“The gym challenge doesn’t officially begin until tomorrow, so the boys should both have some free time tonight! And I know if I explain to my Gran that you came home to see us, she wouldn’t mind me skipping out on my studies for the evening!” Sonia said, cheerfully. “We should celebrate and grab dinner together!”

Just as she said this, Raihan pushed her from behind. “What a great idea! You should call and make us reservations somewhere! Hell, I’ll go with you!” He flashed Leon a wink. “I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about, right? We’ll be back!” 

As he rushed Sonia away, Hiki and Leon could hear her protests. “What are you doing? I don’t have to leave to call the restaurant!”

“Cell reception is better over there. Just trust me on this!”

Hiki laughed and shook her head before turning to Leon. “What did he mean by that?” she questioned. “We literally just talked to each other last night.”

Leon rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed laugh. “You know how Raihan is. Always being so…” He cleared his throat, changing the subject. Curse Raihan for putting him on the spot like that. “Anyway, it’s really great to see you again! When did you get in?”

“I flew in this morning! I was actually a little worried you might be too busy to see me, with the start of the gym challenge season and all. But when I thought about how much I missed you--” She paused, her face turning a bright red, and decided to change her wording. “Y-You guys, I couldn’t wait to come back! I got to see so much of the world like I wanted to, but it felt like Galar was calling me back.”

“We missed you, too,” he responded with a soft smile. He looked up to see Hiki petting Charizard’s head, the big lizard making happy grunts as she did. “Heh, Charizard too, it seems!”

“You’ve gotten so big! I bet you’re a lot stronger now, huh? If it’s even possible to be stronger than before,” she giggled and turned back around to face Leon. “Do you remember the night we ended up stuck in that snow storm after you challenged me to another battle? Charizard was still a Charmeleon back then! His tail kept us so warm!”

“I also remember someone thinking it was safe to try braving the storm and going on.” He crossed his arms and grinned down at her.

Hiki stuck out her bottom lip in a pout as she gazed up at him. Charizard wasn’t the only one who had grown a lot. Leon was much taller now. “I could’ve handled it! You seem to forget I come from a family who are experienced with ice and snow! You just wouldn’t let me go!”

“Hey! I didn’t want to go out the next morning and find a Hiki-sicle in the middle of the Wild Area!”

“Are you sure it just wasn’t that you weren’t sure where to go the next morning and wanted to follow me out?” she teased, bumping his hip with her own. “You used to get lost an awful lot.”

He scoffed, but before he could respond, Raihan and Sonia returned, and Raihan spoke up before him. “What do you mean used to? He’s been late to his own matches because he couldn’t remember how to get to the stadium!”

“Anyway,” Sonia interrupted. “Reservations have been made! Let’s all meet at the restaurant by 6:30. I’m sure Hiki wants some time to rest after her long flight.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! I was so excited to get to their actual relationship! So here you go! Time for them to finally confess!

"Alright Leon, all you have to do is give her this Pokeball and she will be all yours!" the ever confident Raihan said. He was giving the champion a pep talk to help encourage him to tell Hiki how he felt. She had returned to Galar a few days before, so the two boys and Sonia threw a ‘Welcome Back’ party for her in the Wild Area.

"But I've given her a Pokemon before! Don't you remember the Charmander I gave her before she left for Johto?" Leon scratched the back of his head. "What if she thinks it's weird that I’m giving her another Pokemon?"

"That girl _loves_ Pokemon! She'd never think you giving her one as a gift is 'weird,'" he responded, air quotes and all. "Besides, everyone in Galar knows what it means when you receive an Applin from someone!"

“You’re right. Okay… I’m going to do this!” the champion said as he smacked the sides of his face. It was the perfect time to approach her, as she was finally alone. He took a deep breath and walked over to her.

When she saw him walking her way, Hiki smiled at him so brightly he thought his heart was going to melt. “Hey, Lee! Thank you for throwing such a great party! It’s been a lot of fun catching up with everyone!”

“We’re all really happy to have you back! I’ve really missed you-- Uh _we’ve_ really missed you!” _Smooth._ He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I have something for you! You can think of it as a Welcome Back gift!” He handed the pokeball to her, his face just as red as the ball itself.

“A Pokemon?? Leon, you didn’t have to do this!” She took the ball and held it close to her chest, practically dancing with excitement. He actually got this just for her? “Can I let it out right now? I want to meet it!”

“Yeah, of course!” he told her. It was important for her to see what Pokemon it was!

“Come on out, then!” she released the small Pokemon from its ball and knelt down to greet it. “How cute! It’s an Applin! I wanted to catch one of these back during our Gym Challenge, but now I have one of my very own!” She scooped Applin up in her hand before giving Leon a one armed hug. “Thank you, Leon! I promise to take really good care of it!”

He blinked with confusion and returned the hug. She wasn’t exactly responding the way he had expected. “Ah, you’re welcome, Hiki! But, uh… what do you think?” 

“Weren’t you listening, silly?” She giggled and nuzzled the Pokemon to her cheek. “I said it was really cute!”

“R-Right! So does that mean you feel the sa--” But before he could finish his question, he was interrupted by Sonia calling out Hiki’s name.

“Hiki! We have curry over here if you’re hungry!”

Hiki hadn’t eaten since earlier that morning before her flight, and Sonia’s curry was definitely something she missed while she was away. “I’ll be right over!” She turned to Leon before walking away. “Thank you, again, Lee! You always give the best gifts.” She gave him one more smile and went over to where Sonia and a few of the gym leaders were sitting.

Raihan came up behind Leon and put an arm around his shoulders. “Well? She looks happy! I’m guessing that means she likes you back?”

“She… didn’t say,” Leon said, while watching her walk away. He was a little surprised that she hadn’t at _least_ commented on how that meant he felt about her. “She just said the Applin was cute and that she always wanted to catch one.”

“Nothing?? That's… surprising… I was so sure she liked you, too," Raihan responded, just as confused as Leon. He could've sworn she would have been head over heels for a confession like that. He shrugged. "I guess I was wrong. Sorry man…"

Leon sighed, feeling a little embarrassed for putting himself out there like that. At least he knew she only saw him as her friend.

\---

Hiki sat next to Sonia with a plate of curry, happy to have one of her favorite meals prepared to celebrate her return! Her new Pokemon, Applin, was sitting on her shoulder and the redhead noticed it right away.

“Oh! I didn’t know you had an Applin, Hiki!” Sonia said to her.

“I didn’t! This little one was just given to me!” She smiled and pat Applin on the head.

Sonia gasped. “Oooh~! How did you respond?? It _was_ Lee wasn't it??” How exciting! He was finally confessing to her after all these years.

Hiki chuckled a little and nodded. What was with all the questions? “I told him it was a cute Pokemon and thanked him for it!”

Sonia tilted her head to the side. “You mean you didn’t tell him if you feel the same way about him as he does about you?”

“How I feel? What do you mean? He said it was a Welcome Back gift!” Was there something she was missing? He never mentioned anything about feelings…

“Wait… Hiki, don’t you know the old rumor about Applin?” Sonia asked, realizing that Hiki didn’t seem to catch onto what was actually going on.

“Rumor? No, I haven’t! Applin aren’t native to Johto and I never got the chance to catch one when I was here before, so it wasn’t added to my Pokedex!” Hiki explained.

“Oh that poor boy…” Sonia responded, feeling bad for their dear friend. “So basically if you really like someone and you give them an Applin, then you’ll be together forever! Leon gave you that Pokemon because he has a crush on you, Hiki!”

Hiki just stared at her in disbelief, not even sure what to say in response. The guy she hadn’t stopped thinking about since they were _kids_ was trying to confess to her and like an idiot she was completely oblivious… It was the exact opposite of how she always imagined it would happen! She would have expected him to be the oblivious one!

“Hiki?” Sonia waved a hand in front of her friend’s face.

“Oh, sorry…” Hiki responded with an embarrassed laugh. “It’s just… I had no idea...” She looked down to her hands in her lap, where she fiddled with the pokeball. “You’re sure that’s definitely why he did this?” 

“Oh, I _know_ that’s why he gave it to you! You have no idea how much he talked about you while you were gone. He was always so happy to hear from you, too… it was quite sweet."

“He talked about me?" her face grew red upon hearing this. Hiki had always assumed he was far too busy to think about things like this. Sure, they were able to keep in contact and she told him about her adventures, but she figured that was it! He was just a really supportive friend… one she cared about so, so much…

"...Hiki??" Sonia's hand was waving in front of her face once again. She giggled at her friend. "You've been a little spacey since we started talking about this!"

"I know, I know," she said, feeling a little embarrassed. "I guess I'm just… thinking about how funny this is…"

"Funny? What do you mean?" Sonia questioned.

"You see… I made these two friends while I was in Kalos and after talking to them, I realized… I really like Leon… a lot! And I've really missed him lately and that's the whole reason I came back. N-Not that I haven't missed you and Rai, it's just… "

"So you _do_ like him??" Sonia stood up. "Hiki, you have to tell him!" What if he took her response as a rejection?

“I-I know! And I will, but… I need to think this over first.” She got up from her seat and ran off behind a couple of trees. She really needed to make a call. 

\---

Hiki paced around nervously, her Rotom phone floating along with her as she spoke to her friend, Nichole, on a video call.

"So apparently you are supposed to give one of these Pokemon to someone you _like_ … And like an _idiot_ I just told him it was cute and walked away!" Hiki told her.

"Well… in your defense, no one ever told you about this tradition before. I'm sure you're not the first person who's traveled to Galar without knowing that information. Don't sweat it! Just go tell that boy you like him back!"

"I dunno, Nic, it's going to be so awkward now. What if he thinks I hate him??" Hiki placed her face in her hands, not noticing a certain friend of hers approaching.

"Shouldn't that be more of a reason to tell him??" Nichole asked. "What if you go out and get him one of those little Applins in return?"

"That's not a bad ide-- AH!" As she lifted her face from her hands, she noticed Raihan standing right in front of her with quite the grin on his face. "Rai! Go away! I'm having a private conversation right now!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her embarrassment. "Everyone at the party was wondering where you disappeared to, so I came to find you."

Hiki grabbed her Rotom phone out of the air and turned her back to him so he couldn't see the redness in her face. "I'll be back soon, don't worry! I just had… an emergency."

"You're talking about Leon giving you that Applin, aren't you?" he asked, still amused. He glanced over her shoulder, seeing the face of the friend she was talking to, flashing a toothy smile her way. "Who's your friend? She single?"

"RAIHAN!" She turned back to glare at him and clutched her phone to her chest so he wouldn't embarrass her. 

"I'll help you with Leon if you give me her number," he told her, winking.

"Stop that! She's going to hear you!" she whispered angrily. "I'll call you back later, Nichole…" She hung up the phone and looked to her friend again.

"Alright, we'll worry about you introducing us some other time," he responded with a chuckle. He may joke, but he would have helped her regardless. He knew how much this meant to Leon, and he wasn't going to let what he overheard go unnoticed. "Listen, I heard what you were saying. And don't worry! He doesn't think you hate him, but he _is_ a little bummed out thinking he just embarrassed himself in front of you."

Hiki gave him an annoyed look when he mentioned introducing him to Nichole. She knew how he could be a little bit of a player sometimes and didn't want to get her friend involved. But then she sighed. "I kind of feel bad… I didn't mean to upset him. You gotta remember, I'm not from Galar! I've never heard of this as a way to confess before!"

"Ah, that actually… makes a lot of sense. This is honestly partially my fault. The Applin was my idea," he told her. "But you _do_ feel the same way about him, don't you? I heard your friend mention giving him one in return, so does that mean…?"

She bit her lip, feeling a little anxious. Raihan was one of her closest friends so she could be honest with him. "Rai… I like him a lot. We talked so much while I was away and just… he's so sweet and funny! He’s caring, passionate about Pokemon and battling... He's also been such a good Champion here in Galar!" Without realizing it, her emotions started getting to her as tears began creeping down her face. Why was this making her cry? "You know, I watched all of his matches while I was gone? I was just… always thinking about him. And then I started to miss him..." She sniffled and wiped the tears away, feeling embarrassed all over again. "I want to make it up to him… If I bring an Applin back for him, I want to make it really special."

He pat Hiki on the back, hoping to console her. She always was an emotional person! "Hiki, you know he would be really happy to hear all of that. You don't need to do anything fancy! But…"

"But??" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"If you want a special Applin to give him in return, I know where you can find just the one."

\---

After convincing Sonia to keep Leon distracted until they got back, Raihan called upon his Flygon to fly them from the Wild Area to Hammerlocke Stadium. The Pokemon dropped them off at the entrance before being returned to his ball. “Alright, Hiki, follow me! This isn’t something I would share with just anyone, so you’d better appreciate this and--”

“Raiii, I’m not giving you her number…” she interrupted with a groan. “Come on, I don’t wanna leave Lee waiting too long!”

“Fiiine, but you still owe me!” He gave her a teasing smirk, knowing very well that she would never give in, but it was still fun to mess with her. He took her by the arm and quietly led her to a nest of young Applins behind his gym. “Okay, see that nest over there? Those young ones are finally old enough to leave on their own. The Flapple that hatched them has already flown back to the Wild Area and won’t be back until next Spring. She does this every year since no one ever bothers them right here.”

Hiki’s eyes sparkled as she watched the small Pokemon hop around and play with each other. “They are so adorable! But you said there was one in particular you thought he might like? Which one is it?”

“Well you see…” He took her a little closer to the nest where a little green Applin sat all alone inside. It was a different color than the others, so that must have meant it was shiny! But she also noticed that it was a little smaller than the others, too… “This little one is different from its brothers and sisters, so it ends up getting neglected and spends all of its time on its own right here. I’ve been coming out to check on it when I can, but I think it would be much happier with a trainer of its own.” And to be given to the Champion, himself? Surely, it would give the little Pokemon more confidence! He reached down and picked the small Pokemon up in his hands. “Hey buddy, how would you feel if we told you there was a friend of ours we think could take really good care of you?”

The Pokemon looked up to him, happy as can be at his words. It never failed to amaze Hiki how Pokemon were able to understand humans were saying. She could tell the Pokemon wanted to go!

“Alright, that settles it!” Raihan said. “You have a Pokeball with you?”

“Oh yeah, of course! Let me just get one out of my bag!” She reached into the pocket of her backpack where she kept all of her empty Pokeballs… and realized she only had one left. She knew there was something she was supposed to buy at the Mart when she got back! She pulled out the pink ball, her face turning red. It was the Love Ball she found on the ground before she left Kalos. “Uhh… well this is the only one I have…” she said with an embarrassed tone in her voice. She sat it on the ground next to her, too flustered to even look at it.

“Pff--” Raihan couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Aww, come on, don’t you think that’s the perfect ball to use? You’re confessing your _looove_ to him, remember?” he said in a teasing voice.

“Raihan, stop that! This is serious! Do you have any regular Pokeballs I could borrow?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He chuckled a little more before giving in. “Oh, alright. Give me just a sec.” He sat Applin on the ground to free his hands so he could check his pockets. He knew he kept a few spare Ultra Balls on him.

However, while the two trainers were distracted, the little Applin hopped over to the Love Ball, curiously… and tapped the button on the front with its head, which then opened the ball and sucked it inside.

“Here!” Raihan said as he tossed one of the Ultra Balls to her. “Okay, Applin, are you ready to… wait where did it go?”

“Hm? It couldn’t have gotten that far, you just sat it down…” Hiki glanced around, wondering where the little apple had gone… when she saw the Love Ball shaking. “Oh no…”

Click! Applin was caught!

...and Raihan was laughing again.

\---

After returning to the party, Hiki tracked Leon down. He was sitting on a rock near a few of the Gym Leaders, only half listening to what they were talking about. When she got closer, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Lee? You have a moment?" 

The champion was still really embarrassed over what he assumed was a rejection from her. It had left him feeling a little down on himself. He was considering calling it a day and heading back to Wyndon... "Ah, Hiki, I'm sorry but… I have--"

"I promise it will only take a moment! And it's kind of important…" she said, holding her hands behind her back and stared at the ground. She could sense the sadness in his tone, which made her feel slightly guilty.

He sighed, knowing he couldn't possibly say no to her. Feeling like he should avoid her was already driving him crazy! Especially after not getting to see her for six whole years. He gave her a warm smile. "Okay, what is it, Hiki?"

"Here, this is for you." She pulled a very special ball from behind her back, a Love Ball to be exact. Leon's eyebrows raised as he took the ball from her hand. It was a very specific choice of Pokeball… "S-Sorry about the ball. That was… kind of an accident!” She already felt herself sweating, trying to justify the ball.

But she continued. “You see… I honestly had no idea what your gift earlier meant. In Johto, we don’t have any sort of traditions like that, but Sonia explained the whole thing to me. So I didn’t want you to think that your gesture was going ignored! Go ahead and let it out! I made sure to catch the perfect one to show you… how _I_ feel."

How she feels? So that meant her reaction before wasn’t a rejection? But if that’s the case, did that mean there was an Applin in the ball she was giving him? And in a _Love_ Ball, no doubt? He released the creature from the ball he held, and was amazed by the sparkling sight he saw. In front of him was definitely an Applin, but unlike the one he gave her, this one was green. His jaw dropped as he looked back to Hiki. “A shiny Applin?” He knew how hard it was to find such a rare Pokemon like that, and to think she did it all for him… “You did this for me?”

“I felt really bad for not giving you a proper response, so I wanted to make this extra special! Because… _you_ are really special… to me,” she answered, starting to feel a little more nervous than she imagined she would be. She was even too shy to make eye contact! “You know, I really missed you while I was gone.”

He chuckled lightly and took her soft hands in his. "I can't even put into words how much all of this means for me to hear…" He pulled her into him and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for coming back. _That_ is honestly the best gift you could have given me. But little Applin there is very close to taking that top spot away."

Her face grew bright red as it made contact with his chest, but she brought her arms up to return the hug. She couldn't help but giggle at his last comment. “I guess that means I made a good choice, huh?”

“It’s perfect! I’m going to treasure it forever…” He was admittedly starting to feel a little emotional, but he wasn’t about to let her see. Instead, he continued to hold her close, hoping they could spend some time after the party discussing what all of this meant for the two of them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for continuing to read my story! This fic really means a lot to me, and to know that there are people out there who are interested in finding out exactly where I plan to take these characters amazes me so much!
> 
> As always, please let me know what your thoughts are! It really makes everything worth it for me to hear from you!

Hiki sat at the kitchen table in her aunt’s home, stirring a bowl of cereal absentmindedly while a million thoughts ran through her head. It was so hard to believe that after all this time, Leon had such strong feelings for Hiki… the same feelings she had for him! On her way back to Galar, she had convinced herself that if she had confessed her feelings to him and he just wanted to stay friends, she would have been okay with that. But instead, he ended up confessing to her first! It felt like some kind of dream…

After Hiki gave the shiny Applin to Leon, the two went off further into the Wild Area, away from everyone at the party, just walking with each other and talked. At one point, Hiki felt Leon gently take her hand in his. She could tell that he was nervous and his hand felt a little sweaty, but she felt so happy to have contact with him.

One of the concerns Leon had brought up while they were talking, was how the chairman might react when he found out he had a girlfriend. The man always warned Leon about things that would hurt his image, one of those things being a bad breakup, were he ever to get into a relationship. Because of this, it felt like he tried to persuade him not to get involved with anyone. Leon was pretty confident that something like that was very unlikely to happen between him and Hiki, but that didn’t mean the chairman would necessarily just take his word for it.

The two decided it might be for the best to keep their relationship a secret from the public, with only their friends and relatives knowing anything about it. And Hiki was okay with that! It made things a little more exciting!

Melony walked into the kitchen and noticed her niece staring into her breakfast with the biggest smile on her face. The Gym Leader opened the fridge to get herself some juice and wore a bit of a knowing smirk on her face. “I see someone had a good time at the party yesterday. Did I miss anything in particular?”

“Hm?” Hiki snapped out of her daydreaming and looked up at her aunt. Her eyes shifted to the side as she made an attempt to lie. “N-Nothing…  _ too _ interesting…”

“I see,” Melony responded, taking a sip of her juice. “So the Applin sitting on the table next to you wasn’t a gift from someone special or anything? Just a plain ol’ non-interesting Applin that you didn’t get from our dear Champion, right?”

Hiki almost choked on her cereal. She really couldn’t hide anything from her, could she? “O-Okay, Aunt Mel… Listen, I know you always teased us when we were kids, so you really don’t have to say ‘I told you so’... And we are trying to keep it a secret right now so it doesn’t affect his job as Champion. The chairman would flip!”

Melony chuckled to herself. “It’s okay, dear, your secret is safe with me… but tell me, did that boy kiss you yet”?

“Aunt Mel! It hasn’t even been a day… We are still… figuring this whole thing out,” Hiki said, feeling awfully embarrassed. “I’m actually planning to go to Wyndon today to meet him after he finishes his autograph signing. As far as the chairman and his assistant know, I’m just one of Lee’s friends who happened to be in town today and wants to catch up, but instead we are going for a picnic in some secret area he said no one will find us in…”

“Ooooh~ a secret romantic date… I love it!”

Hiki’s face turned red. “D-Don’t you have a Gym you need to get to, Aunt Mel?”

“Alight, alright… You have fun on your little date and have a safe trip there and back.” She grabbed her things and started to head for the door, but stopped on her way out. “But I want to hear all about it when you get home! Bye-bye!”

Hiki groaned and slumped in her chair. Why was her aunt always so nosey? But it didn’t matter! She was about to have her first date… ever! She had to go up to her room and get ready! Nothing was going to ruin this day for her!

\---

Rain.

Rain was going to ruin it for her.

Hiki sat inside a Corvinight Taxi, unable to get out without becoming absolutely drenched in the downpour. They were supposed to already be out having their picnic, and she hadn’t even made it to see him just yet. Not only that, it was kind of impossible to have a picnic in this kind of weather.

She groaned, staring out the window of the taxi in disappointment, when her Rotom phone rang, floating up to her face. It was Raihan, video calling her. She answered the call. “What is it, Rai?”

“Heey, how’s everything going you two?”

She sighed. “It’s just me… It’s absolutely pouring right now… I can’t even get out of the taxi!”

“That sucks. Can’t he meet you in the taxi and you guys go somewhere else?” Raihan asked.

“We don’t have time for that! He’s got a photo shoot right after lunch…”

“Then just reschedule! It’s not like this is the only chance you two are going to have.”

Letting out another disappointed sigh, Hiki rested her cheek against her palm. “You’re no help…”

Raihan scoffed. “Well what else do you expect me to do? You think I can control the weather or something??”

Hiki sat up straight. “Um… Yeah??” Wasn’t that his whole gimmick in his gym??

Realizing what he just said, Raihan backtracked. “Wait… that’s not what I meant. It doesn’t exactly work that way, Hiki. My Pokemon can’t change the actual weather. They can just create weather conditions… Sure, Torkoal could fire up a Sunny Day for you, but the rain is just going to keep coming down either way.”

“...It was worth a shot, I guess. Thanks anyway… I’ll let you know if anything changes.” She hung up and looked out the window again. What were they going to do? 

Suddenly she saw a figure running toward the taxi. It was… Leon! He was using his cape as a cover to try to keep himself dry. As he approached the taxi, he opened the door for her, holding the cape up so she could join him under it. “I’m so sorry I’m late! Don’t worry, we are still going to make this work, okay?”

A warm smile made its way onto Hiki’s face as she stepped out of the taxi and ducked under the cape. They had to stand very close together for it to cover them both, not that she minded. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon, though… And you have that shoot in an hour…”

The taxi flew away leaving them both alone, standing under his cape in the rain. “It’s okay! If I’m late… I’ll just tell them I got lost trying to find my way there in the rain.”

Hiki sighed with a giggle. “Just don’t get yourself in any kind of trouble because of me,” she scolded. She stared up at him with a smile, finding the whole situation with them standing under his cape together to be somewhat… romantic. And suddenly her aunt’s words from that morning started ringing in her head.  _ ‘Did that boy kiss you yet?’ _ Her face was bright red.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her, chuckling. “You’re not catching a cold are you? Your face is all--”

“I-I’m good! Don’t worry…” She waved off his comment before changing the subject. “So what’s the plan now?”

“Right, follow me!” Still carrying his cape over their heads, Leon led Hiki down an alley in between some buildings. Pretty far in was a spot that was covered by a roof and there was already a picnic blanket spread out on the ground, with a basket placed next to it. “I know what you’re thinking, but no one is going to see us! Those apartments are getting remodeled, and there’s no way the construction team is going to work in this kind of weather… so we’re completely alone.”

Hiki felt tears welling up in her eyes. “I think it’s perfect, Lee…”

“Then come on! Let’s eat!” he said, hanging up his cape on a chair that was nearby to dry, somewhat. He picked up the basket and carried it over to her as he took a seat on the blanket next to her. “A lot of times when we have multiple events in one day, Rose’s assistant, Oleana, will have someone cater lunch at the stadium. I grabbed a little bit of everything so I could make sure there was something you’d like!”

Hiki thanked him and took a sandwich from the basket. “Wouldn’t they think it was odd you took all this food and left?

“Not really! Meal times are usually the closest thing I get to a break on busy days like this, so they are used to me taking my food and going somewhere on my own,” he said, calmly while taking one of the other sandwiches from the basket.

“Being Champion sure keeps you pretty busy, huh?” she asked before taking a bite from her sandwich, humming happily over how good it was.

“It wasn’t always this hectic… I mean when I first started out, I had all kinds of free time! I was able to go home whenever I wanted, see my family… But so many years of remaining undefeated has made me so popular-- I hope that doesn’t make me sound conceited. What I’m trying to say is… the fans are constantly wanting to see me doing… something. I’m always doing autograph signings, meet and greets… companies want me promoting everything they are trying to sell. My days are so packed busy anymore.”

Hiki looked over to him with a sympathetic look on her face. “It sounds really stressful…” If she was honest, she found it rather impressive that he was able to stay so strong through all of that. He always seemed to have a smile on his face no matter how tired he might be.

“It is… but it has a lot of good things that completely outweigh the bad!” She watched a smile grew on his face. “Every time I hear a fan tell me that I’ve inspired them to work harder with their Pokemon, to train harder, battle harder… that I make them want to be the best trainer they can be, so they can battle me in the Pokemon League… It makes me want to keep working hard to give them a battle worth that journey! Even my little brother wants to grow up and have the chance to battle me for my title someday! It’s… really nice to be a role model for him, since our dad isn’t around.”

Hiki rummaged around in the basket for another snack, taking a few berries. She felt so happy to hear him talk about how much he enjoyed those parts of being the Champion. She really couldn’t imagine anyone better to be a role model for younger trainers. He was always so true to himself, never faking anything for a camera. Every word he said in interviews came from his own heart, rather than some script. She smiled when he mentioned his little brother. She hadn’t seen him since she left, which was when he was just a toddler! “How is Hop? I bet he’s grown so much!”

That brought another smile to the Champion’s face. “Oh like you wouldn’t believe! He’s already talking about wanting a Pokemon for himself. I’m really thinking about bringing one home for him the next time I get to visit.” He thought to himself for a moment. “You should go with me! I know my family would love to see you again! And we could tell them… you know, about us!”

She blinked at him, her face turning red. “Y-Yeah, but… shouldn’t that be time you spend with only them? You were just saying you don’t get to see them that often…”

He laughed softly. “Yeah? And I didn’t see you at all for six whole years…” he said with a teasingly ‘hurt’ tone in his voice. “Come on, it will be fun! They already love you! They asked about you all the time while you were gone!”

Hiki popped one more berry in her mouth and chewed it slowly, while thinking to herself for a moment. “...You really don’t think it will be a problem?”

“I’m positive! Please??” He gave her a look that reminded her of a pouting Yamper. How could she say no to that?? Besides, he wouldn’t have to work during that time, which meant more time for them to spend together. So what if his family was around? They were wonderful too!

She giggled. “Okay, okay, I’ll go! Just stop looking at me like that!”

He laughed too. “I knew that would work on you,” he teased.

She smacked him on the arm. “Oh, very funny, Lee! Just you wait until there’s something  _ I _ want!”

“Good luck! I’m impossible to break! Comes with the whole undefeated streak I’ve got--” Just then he was interrupted by his Rotom phone starting to ring and floating up in front of him. Oleana was calling, probably to ask where he ran off to... “Man… already? That went by way too fast!”

Hiki sighed quietly, hoping to hide her own disappointment, then threw on a smile for him. “Fast or not, this is the nicest picnic I’ve ever been on. I really enjoyed it!”

He smiled back. “I know it wasn’t exactly how we planned, but I’m glad we were still able to make it work.” He took a step out from under the roof they were beneath and looked up at the sky. “Looks like the rain finally stopped! Why don’t we call you a Corviknight Taxi back to Circhester before it starts back up?”

Hiki stood and walked up next to him. She wasn’t exactly ready to go, but she knew he had things to do. Without a word, she nodded in agreement. The Champion picked up the picnic basket and blanket, as well as his still soaked cape and led her back out into the open city.

When the taxi arrived and it was time to say their goodbyes, she turned back around to look at him with a sad smile on her face. It was a shame they couldn’t do something like this everyday. But it just made their time together more special.

“I leave for Postwick in about a month. Charizard and I will meet you at the Hammerlocke train station and we can travel there together, okay?” He took her hand in his as he spoke. Thankfully, there weren’t many people around, so he felt comfortable being so close to her. “This is only goodbye until then!”

She nodded again, worried that if she opened her mouth to speak, she may get emotional. They only just started dating one day ago and she already had to go a whole month without seeing him? 

He knew her well enough to know why she was so silent, so he offered her another smile to cheer her up. “It will be okay! I’ll call you every night until then! I promise!” Again, she only nodded in response. Leon’s Rotom phone started ringing once again. “I have to go… Oleana is already going to give me an earful when I get there… But I’ll talk to you tonight!” He squeezed her hand and turned to walk back toward the stadium as she started to board the taxi.

She turned around and watched him, feeling a little upset with herself for not actually telling him goodbye. “Lee? Wait!”

He stopped and turned back to run over in her direction. “What’s wrong?”

When he approached her once again, she looked around, making sure no one was watching them and gave him a very quick, shy peck on the cheek. “Have fun at your photo shoot! Send me lots of pictures if you can, and I’ll see you again soon!” she finally said, smiling at him as she boarded the taxi. It flew away to take her back to Circhester, leaving the Champion rubbing his cheek with an awfully flustered look on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

Hiki yawned as she left the Hammerlocke Pokemon Center, where the Corviknight Taxi she took from Circhester had dropped her off. She had a purple suitcase wheeling behind her as she walked. Leon was supposed to meet her at the train station for them both to catch the early train heading to Postwick. It was the first time she got to see him in person in about a month, so she was excited to get there!

When she arrived at the station, she noticed Raihan standing outside. “Well finally one of you made it! I was beginning to wonder if the two of you left without stopping to see me! You can’t come to my hometown and not at least say hi, you know!” the grumpy Gym Leader said to her.

Hiki chuckled. "Sorry, Rai! You know we've just had a lot on our minds!"

"Hmph, guess you love birds are just gonna spend all your time together and forget I even exist, huh?" he teased. 

She rolled her eyes and gave him a hug. "Yeah, like you'd ever  _ let _ us forget you exist…" she teased back. "You know we'd never do that to you! You're our best friend!"

He chuckled and placed a hand on her back to return the hug. When they pulled away he checked the time on his phone. "So where is he, anyway? Don't tell me he got lost again…"

"He'll be here! Charizard is flying him over, so he shouldn't have any trouble!" Hiki responded, confidently. 

Moments later, a shadow was cast over them both as Charizard flew above them, coming in to land in front of the train station where they stood. “Come to see us off, Raihan?” Leon asked as he hopped off the Pokemon when they were close enough to the ground. He wasn’t wearing his usual Champion attire, aside from his signature hat. He dressed a bit more casually, sporting a black hoodie and jeans.

“Course I did! It’s your first time going on a trip together. It’s kinda special, isn’t it?” Raihan responded. “Just, you know, try not to have  _ too _ much fun on your little honeymoon, if you know what I mean,” he teased, while lightly jabbing Hiki in the side with his elbow.

Hiki’s face glowed a bright red at his comment. Was he implying what she thought he was? They hadn’t even kissed yet! “R-Raihan!”

He laughed at how flustered she was, while Leon only rolled his eyes at him, trying not to show his own embarrassment over his friend’s comment. “Oh come on, you guys know I’m only kidding! But for real! Have a good time and tell me all about it when you get back up this way!”

\---

The two got off the train at the station in Wedgehurst, the closest stop to Leon’s childhood home. Hiki had been to this house a few other times, though Sonia and Raihan were there, too. This was the first time she had ever come with just Leon. They hadn’t told his mother that she would be coming with him, but he assured her that she would be welcome no matter what.

“Hey, let’s take a small detour on the way! I still want to catch a Pokemon for my little brother!” Leon told her, while taking her hand to pull her toward the tall grass.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Hiki teased. “What if you get us lost by going a different way?”

He turned to give her a look, about to poke back when they heard a rustling in the grass near them. “I wonder what it is…” He knew he couldn’t send out one of his Pokemon to battle this one, since the Pokemon on this route were much weaker than the ones up north. He was just going to have to rely on luck!

Hiki crouched down to get a better look at the Pokemon, when she noticed a white fluffy body. “I think it’s a Wooloo!” she whispered, before carefully sneaking over to the Pokemon.

“H-Hiki, what are you doing? Don’t scare it away!” Leon warned her.

“Don’t worry! I’m not going to scare it!” She slowly approached the little sheep, who was calmly eating some of the grass. “Hi little one… Don’t be afraid, we just wanna be your friends!” She reached out to pet the Pokemon on the head, when it suddenly noticed she had gotten so close and rolled right past her, completely knocking her down on her behind.

Leon had to laugh at what he just saw. “See? I told you it was going to get scared!”

Hiki pouted and gave him a playful glare for laughing, though she had to admit it was pretty funny. Luckily, the Wooloo didn’t go too far and was still within eyesight.

“Here! I’ll show you how a Champion catches Pokemon!” he teased while reaching into his pocket for a few berries.

She giggled and rolled her eyes. “That’s what I was going to do next, you know!”

“Uh-huh, I’m sure it was!” he joked. The Champion knelt down to the ground and placed a few of the berries in front of him. “It’s okay! We aren’t going to hurt you!”

The Pokemon watched him cautiously, slowly walking toward him to take the berries he was offering. When it was sure he was safe, it came over and started eating the berries happily.

Leon chuckled and reached down to pet the Pokemon as it ate. “Wooloo, would you like to come along with us? I have a younger brother who would love to have his very own partner and I think you would be perfect for him!”

Wooloo looked up to him with questioning eyes before letting out a happy “Meeeh!”

And with that as his response, Leon offered a ball to the Pokemon, which it booped with its nose and went inside.

“So that’s how a Champion catches Pokemon, huh? Seems a lot different from how you used to catch them when we were kids,” Hiki said with a chuckle.

“Hey! This was under different circumstances! My team was far too overpowered to take on this little guy, so I had to improvise a bit!” He laughed with her as he stood, holding the ball containing Wooloo in his hand. “Now come on, they’re waiting for us!”

\---

“Lee? Is that you??” a child’s voice rang out as they neared the house in Postwick.

The voice came from Leon’s younger brother, Hop, who had no idea he was coming home for a visit. “It’s me, Little Bro! Surprise!!” He opened his arms to give the little boy a hug.

“I’ll go get Mum! She’s inside!” After giving Leon a big hug, Hop ran inside to find their mother, Rosalyn. Within a few short moments, Hop came out of the house, pulling her out by her hand. “Look, Mum! Look who’s here!!” 

While the visit was a complete surprise to his younger brother, his mother knew he would be arriving that day and was already preparing his favorite meal for lunch. But to play along with Hop, she said, “Well isn’t  _ this _ a surprise! Welcome home, Leon! I’ve missed you so much!” She placed her hands on his face and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks, Mum! I missed you too!” He blushed over his mother’s affection, but decided to reveal her surprise next! “Look who I brought with me!” Leon took a step to the side, revealing Hiki standing behind him, looking rather shy.

“My… is that you Hiki? Haven’t you just grown into such a beautiful young lady!” Rosalyn rushed over to her and took both of her hands in her own. “When did you make it back to Galar, sweetie?”

“I’ve been back for about a month!” she smiled, blushing over her compliments. She always loved how sweet Leon’s mother was.

“Is this just a visit or are you here to stay this time?” she asked, releasing her hold on Hiki’s hands.

“I’m here to stay, now. I’m living with my Aunt Mel again. I really enjoyed visiting all the other regions, but…” She glanced over at Leon and smiled. “Something seemed to be calling me back here.”

Leon stepped closer to Hiki again and took hold of her hand. “Actually, Mum, there’s something we’d like to tell you. Hiki and I… We’re dating…”

His mother’s eyes filled with tears as she covered her mouth with her hands. She was completely overjoyed! It was almost like she had been hoping to hear those exact words. She pulled them both into a hug. “This is wonderful news!”  
“Lee has a girlfriend?? Gross…” Hop responded. He was still at that stage in his life where he believed girls had ‘cooties,’ even though his best friend happened to also be a girl.

Hiki giggled at the young boy’s response and knelt down so she was about his height. “You think I’m gross? Oh no…” she said faking a hurt tone. “Well… what do you think, Leon? I guess that would mean he wouldn’t want the gift we brought for him, since it’s from you and your icky girlfriend, huh?”

“Wait, a gift for me? Uh, I didn’t mean it, promise!!” he quickly changed his tone and offered Hiki a big smile, one that reminded her a lot of Leon’s.

She chuckled and stood to face Leon, who tossed the Pokeball her way. “Here, go ahead and give it to him!” Even if the Pokemon was one he caught for his brother, maybe having Hiki give it to him would help him to warm up to her a little more.

“Okay… your big brother caught this little guy special for you! You gotta promise you will take very good care of it! You’ll do that, won’t you?” she asked him, crouching back down to him.

Hop stood, eyes wider than the Pokeball itself, with the biggest smile on his face as she placed it in his hands. “My very own Pokemon? I promise I’ll take really good care of it!”

“Go ahead and let it out of the ball! I just know it’s so excited to meet you!” Hiki told him with a warm smile.

Hop released the Wooloo from it’s ball and he and Hiki played together with his new Pokemon friend while Leon stood with his mother and watched the two of them.

“I always knew…” Rosalyn said, catching Leon off guard.

“Huh? Knew what, Mum?” he asked with a confused tone in his voice.

“I knew that someday… you and Hiki were going to end up together.” She chuckled lightly. “You two were always so close, even when she wasn’t here… That look on your face and the excitement in your voice when we would be sitting at the dinner table and you asked to be excused because she would be calling you… A mother notices these things, you know!”

Leon felt slightly embarrassed. His mother wasn’t the first person to tell him that his feelings for Hiki were pretty obvious to those around them, even before he understood them, himself.

“But…” she continued. “I’m happy she’s the one.”

“Yeah?” Leon responded, not quite expecting that comment.

“It was hard not to worry that because of your standing in the Pokemon League, someone might come along and try to charm you and benefit off of your fame… But Hiki isn’t like that.” The woman continued watching Hiki laugh and play with her youngest son and his new Wooloo. “She’s always been such a kind, sweet girl. I know she will treat you well.”

He smiled and turned his attention to Hiki and Hop as well. He really was lucky to have her, wasn’t he?

\---

After lunch, Hiki and Leon agreed to keep an eye on Hop while their mother made a trip up to Wedgehurst to buy some groceries. While he and Wooloo played near the practice battle field, Leon sat with Hiki, their backs against the tree, while they listened to the sounds of the pond in front of them. Her head was resting on his shoulder and his own head was resting against hers. His eyes were closed while Hiki played with his hands, gently, linking her fingers with his. Everything felt so peaceful… which was a huge difference from how his every day life usually felt.

He opened his eyes when he heard the sound of Hop recalling Wooloo into its Pokeball and noticed him get ready to walk away from their home. “And where might you be off to, Little Bro?”

“I’m going over to Gloria’s to show her my new Pokemon!” Hop responded.

Gloria? That must have been the girl his age whose family bought the house next to theirs. He remembered their mother telling him how quickly she and Hop became friends. “Okay, just don’t be gone too long!”

“He’s a really good kid,” Hiki said, sitting up from where she had been resting against Leon. “I think he will make a good trainer, someday!”

Leon chuckled a bit. “I think so to… Only a few more years and he will be old enough to enter the Gym Challenge. It’s so hard to believe…”

“Just think, once that time comes, you may have a pretty worthy opponent challenging you,” she told him, imagining the two brothers battling each other for the Champion title.

It sure was fun to think about, but in reality, Leon wasn’t so sure he would want that kind of responsibility put on his brother like it was for him at such a young age. The past eight years have been a lot of stress for the Champion. It was definitely rewarding, but exhausting all the same. The only positive side to Hop wanting to grow up and become Champion the same way Leon did, was that he would have someone close to him who has been in that position and be able to guide him when he needed it.

But this wasn’t the time to worry about such things. They had a few years to think about that, and besides, he was on vacation! It was time to relax and spend time with his family and with Hiki.

“Hey, thank you… for coming here with me,” Leon said, softly. He let go of her hand and moved to put his arm around her, which allowed her to lean into him further. 

She sighed with a warm smile on her face and snuggled in closer to him. This was probably the most intimate the two had ever gotten with each other, but she felt so comfortable with him that it just felt right. “I’m happy I agreed, Lee… I really am!”

Hearing those words made him really happy. He smiled and rested his chin against her head with his eyes closed. He also felt content being so close to each other, just relaxing together. Being able to share this time with her made him happier than he ever thought was possible.

After a few moments of sitting this way in silence, Leon felt Hiki shuffling under him. When he lifted his head, he looked down to see her smiling up at him. “What?” he asked with a soft chuckle.

“Nothing… I just…” Now she was blushing and looking away from him. “Sorry, it’s silly…” she said, feeling embarrassed. She really didn’t think this through!

“Aw, come on! You can tell me!” He reached out to take her hands. Did he do something weird??

She sighed, her face still a bright red. “I just… wanted to get a better look at you…” Her gaze was still off to the side as she started mumbling, “I think… I think you’re really cute, okay?”

Leon sat there for a moment just blinking at her, his face growing just as flushed as hers was. “C-Cute?? ...me?? I… I don’t know about  _ that _ …” He let out a flustered laugh. “I’m the strong, undefeated Champion of Galar! I couldn’t possibly be… cute. I mean, not like… like  _ you _ !”

That one got a giggle out of her. Was that his way of telling her that he thought she was cute, too? His embarrassed little speech wasn’t helping his case, either, making Hiki find him even  _ more _ cute… He just continued to ramble on, seeming like he may not even stop, so Hiki did the next thing that she thought felt right… and planted a kiss on his cheek, just like she had the day they had their first date.

“...and that reminds me, I--” The moment her lips made contact with his face, he was silent. But, it didn’t make him flustered like her previous words had. Instead he seemed… disappointed? Hiki watched him in confusion, wondering if she shouldn’t have done that. But then he looked over at her with a small grin on his face. “Why do you keep missing?”

Now she was really confused. “Wait, what do you mean by that?”

He just continued staring at her, that grin turning into a warm smile. “Here… I’ll show you. You’re supposed to do it like this…” He took a deep breath and leaned in close to her, giving her a soft kiss on her lips.

It was brief, lasting only a few short seconds, but it was enough to make Hiki feel like she was about to melt. For a moment, she swore her brain stopped working as she tried to find words to say. But instead she just stared at him, the happiest look in her eyes.

Leon, however, sat in front of her feeling totally embarrassed.  _ ‘That was so lame…’  _ he could almost hear Raihan’s voice in his head. In his mind, it was going to be so smooth, but once he actually went through with it? He realized just how much of a dork Hiki probably thought he was. This was his first ever relationship, so he was still trying to figure everything out… 

Before either of them could voice their opinions on the moment, they heard the sound of Rosalyn’s voice calling out. “I’m back! And I ran into someone at the store who I just had to invite over for dinner tonight!”

Both Hiki and Leon both sat up straight and watched as she walked into the yard with Sonia not far behind, helping her carry groceries. Hopefully neither of them had seen what had just happened between the two of them! That would only embarrass Leon more!

“Oh, Sonia!” Hiki called out, standing up from the grass. “Here, I’ll come help you two!”

Leon stood up, too, and cleared his throat. “Uhh, I’ll be back. Hop’s over at Gloria’s so I’m just gonna… go get him.”

“We’ll see you soon, Lee!” Sonia said to him, waving with her free hand after Hiki took one of the bags from her. She then leaned close to her friend and whispered. “Is he okay? He kind of seemed out of it, there,” she said with a chuckle.

Hiki let out a little embarrassed laugh. She figured he was probably just flustered that his mother and their friend almost witnessed their first kiss. She had no idea that he was embarrassed by how he approached it. “He’s just… tired. It was a long train ride and all!”

She turned around to watch him walk over to the neighbor’s house to get his little brother, hoping they would have a chance to talk about what happened later that evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Leon... He's trying his best, though!! Even if he doesn't know it, Hiki definitely wasn't disappointed! Even if it was such a small kiss. 
> 
> Thank you for reading this story up to this point! It's very special to me, so it means a lot that anyone would take the time to read it. But I'd really love some feedback! Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think so far! It would really make my day! <3


	10. Chapter 10

Later that night, after everyone had dinner and Sonia went back home, Leon’s mother took Hop to her own bedroom for the night to sleep with her, opening up his bedroom for their guest to sleep. “If there’s anything you need, Leon’s room is right across the hall! I know he would be more than happy to take care of you,” the woman told Hiki with a smile.

Hiki returned the smile. “Thank you. Good night!” she said, as his mother closed the door to give her some privacy to get ready for bed. The bluenette picked up her suitcase and placed it on the bed to take out what she needed to sleep. The pajamas she had packed were white button up pajamas with little pictures of the Johto starters in a pattern all over the top and bottoms of the outfit. They were one of her favorites and reminded her of home!

After she got changed, she left Hop’s room to go down the hall to brush her teeth and wash up for the night. As she opened the door, she stopped for a moment to look at the closed door across the hall. Leon had already settled in for the night, which Hiki could only assume was due to exhaustion. Though, she did find dinner to be a little awkward. He hardly said anything the entire meal! She wondered if their kiss from earlier was on his mind like it was hers… She couldn’t stop thinking about it!

She got all settled into bed, planning to just talk to him about it the next morning, but… her mind kept going right back to him and… how much she wanted him to kiss her again. For about an hour she tossed and turned, unable to shake those thoughts. When she finally gave up, she grabbed her pillow and tiptoed across the hall to Leon’s door and knocked lightly.

As it turned out, Leon wasn’t asleep at all. He was actually wide awake and texting Raihan, still completely overthinking how he handled the kiss. As anyone would expect, Raihan couldn’t help but make fun of the poor Champion.

[ **Leon** ]: _Come on! It’s not that funny, Raihan! I was trying to be smooth!_

[ **Raihan** ]: _Relax, I’m only teasing ya! Besides, you and I both know Hiki LIKES when you act all corny like that._

[ **Leon** ]: _I guess that’s true. But don’t you think she would have been happier with something a little more… romantic?_

[ **Raihan** ]: _What are you asking me for??_

[ **Leon** ]: _I was hoping you could give some advice…_

[ **Leon** ]: _Oh man, I think she’s knocking on my bedroom door… I’ll talk to you later._

[ **Raihan** ]: Time to turn on the charm! Have fun~ 

Leon rolled his eyes and put his phone away before answering the knock at his door. He knew it had to be her, considering his family would have probably let themselves in right after knocking. “Hiki? Are you okay? Come on in, we can talk in here.”

She held up her pillow to hide the embarrassed look on her face as she walked in and sat on his bed. This was the first time she had really been in his room with only him. “I’m fine… I just couldn’t sleep…”

"Is Hop's room uncomfortable for you or something?" Leon took a seat next to her and gave her a questioning look.

"No, no! It's not that or anything! It's just… you see, I was thinking about what happened earlier, and--" Leon sighed, causing Hiki to pause. “What?”

“It was weird, wasn’t it?” he asked, sheepishly. “I was trying to sound cool, but once I actually did it, I realized how lame I sounded. Sorry about that…” He rubbed the back of his head.

Hiki couldn’t help but giggle. “Lee, you really think  _ that _ is what I took away from the moment? I thought it was really sweet, honestly… and the fact that you kissed me at all is all I’ve been able to think about…” She shrugged, her gaze drifting away from him out of shyness. “After you came in here to be alone, I actually started missing you. Isn’t that silly? Here you are right across the hall and you would think I was all the way back in Johto again…”

The Champion smiled softly, feeling incredibly relieved by her words. “Well we can’t have you feeling lonely, now can we?” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close so he could hold her. “You know… if you’d be comfortable with it, you’re more than welcome to sleep here.”

She looked up at him with wide eyes. “A-Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose…”

“Don’t worry about it! I’d love to have you next to me,” he told her, a blush forming in his cheeks as he responded. But he quickly shook off his embarrassment as he scooped her up in his arms. She nearly yelped in surprise, to which he shushed her, resulting in them both laughing quietly together. He turned around and gently placed her down on the side of his bed that was next to the wall and handed her the pillow she brought with her. Something told him this was exactly what she was hoping would happen!

He climbed in next to her and faced her with a smile on his face. This was the first time they had ever shared a bed with each other. They had plenty of sleepovers, when it came to camping out together, but they were always in their own sleeping bags and had friends joining them. This felt a lot different than that.

When he smiled at her, Hiki shuffled closer to him and pressed her forehead against his, while closing her eyes. “This is really nice… Just being here with you…” In her mind, it was the perfect way to spend their evening. Just wrapped up in a blanket next to him.

“I couldn’t agree more…” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled the rest of her body close to his. If only they could spend every night like this. It would definitely make his long, busy days much more bearable. 

Hiki opened her eyes to stare into his. They reminded her of the sun, so bright and golden… but from this close she could also tell he had slight bags forming under them. “I wish they didn’t keep you so busy up there in Wyndon… You deserve more time to rest…”

He chuckled softly. “Hey, you don’t need to worry about me! It’s really not as bad as it sounds… most of the time.”

“I just don’t want you to end up being overworked, Lee…” She puffed out her cheek in a bit of a pout.

Leon thought she was so cute when she made faces like that. It made it really hard for him not to lean in and finally kiss her again, which is exactly what he did. This kiss came without warning, which really caught Hiki off guard, but she happily welcomed it. He pulled away from her with a smile and told her, “Thank you for caring. I promise I’ll be okay! I’m strong, remember?” He laughed and rested his forehead against hers. “And getting to spend time with you like this on my time off… it makes everything worth it.”

Hiki’s cheeks were very warm after he kissed her, and she was almost too flustered to even make eye contact again. As he held her close to his body, she rested her own hands on his chest. What was it about him that made her feel so calm just by being so close to him. “I’m really glad you feel that way… Maybe someday it can be this way everyday, rather than only when you have time off.” They had barely spent any alone time together in the weeks they had been a couple, due to the fact that they wanted to keep it a secret from the public. Hiki didn’t want to get in the way of his responsibilities, and Leon didn’t want her to get dragged into the stressful side of his career. He knew that if the wrong people found out that they were dating, that they would try to use her in similar ways they were using him, to promote their products and businesses simply because she was Champion Leon’s Girlfriend.

Obviously he would be much happier if they could be more open about their relationship, but he didn’t want to risk anything. At least not right now. He knew it wasn’t realistic to keep it a secret  _ forever _ , but he was happy to keep her all to himself while he could. “Someday it will be, I promise.” As he said this, he kissed her gently on her nose.

She let out a happy giggle and scrunched up her nose when he did. “I’m looking forward to it.” She trusted him and knew that he was right. This was only the beginning! They had plenty of time to really get things figured out. Leon yawned and nestled his face into the top of her head, loving the scent of her hair. He found it rather soothing. One of his hands trailed up to play in it, which in turn relaxed Hiki as well. She rested her own face against his chest, ready to close her eyes for the night. “Good night, Lee…” she said with a content sigh.

\---

The next morning, Leon found himself awake before Hiki, his girlfriend still curled up in his arms. It felt like a dream, waking up with her next to him like that, and he couldn’t think of a better way to start the morning even if he tried. He carefully slipped out of bed, making sure not to disturb her and gave her a kiss on the forehead before covering her back up with the blanket.

As he left the bedroom, he could smell his mother’s cooking downstairs. She must have been making breakfast! He made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, where he saw exactly that. “Morning, Mum!” he said to her as he entered, and gave the woman a kiss on the side of her head. He filled his plate then ruffled Hop’s hair as he passed by him at the table and took the empty chair next to him.

“Good morning, my dear. I hope you slept well,” his mother responded.

“Best sleep of my life!” he said with a smile, shoving a slice of bacon in his mouth.

As he was chewing his food, his mother continued, a bit of a knowing smirk on her face. “I sure hope the same for Miss Hiki. I went to check on her last night and she wasn’t in Hop’s room, where I had left her.”

Hop chuckled to himself. “Busted!”

Leon practically choked on his food at her words. He never even thought about what his family might suspect about her sleeping in his room. “M-Mum, nothing… happened! We were just…”

She brought her hand up to her mouth as she laughed. “I never said anything did!” She walked up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “You’re both adults. I know you’re old enough to make your own decisions. Besides, you live on your own now! It’s not like I’d be able to do anything to stop you while you’re in Wyndon.” While he knew she was telling him that he hadn’t done anything wrong, his face was still a bright red, full of embarrassment. Did they really need to talk about this in front of Hop??

Upstairs, Hiki opened her eyes, seeing that she was in an empty bed. Still, she decided to linger for just a moment longer, soaking up the how happy she was the have been able to spend a night with someone so special to her. She brought the blanket up to her face and giggled happily, kicking her legs as she did. She never thought it could be possible to feel so strongly about someone like she was about him. Everything between them brought her so much joy.

She couldn’t help but wonder… was this how it felt to be in love with someone? Or was it too soon for her to be thinking that way… Either way, she couldn’t wait to see him again! After getting herself ready for the day, she made her way downstairs to meet up with him and the rest of his family, excited to see how the rest of this vacation was going to play out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was short and sweet, but it really sets the tone for how their relationship is going to be! At least when they are able to spend time together... but don't worry! Once it's out to the public, things will only get more serious!
> 
> Thank you again for reading! As always, please leave a comment with your feedback! I'd love to hear what you think about my story!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter during Christmas! Originally it was supposed to just be a cute short story that wasn't going to be included in the main story, but then... a few important words were exchanged near the end and I knew it had to be included! I know it's late but here it is! (And there will be a New Years chapter soon too! Though it's from a year later~)
> 
> Enjoy! And please leave me your feedback if you don't mind! <3

_Two months later…_

Hiki sat staring out the window in the living room of her aunt's house and sighed. It was the night of Christmas Eve and the snow was coming down heavily.

"Hiki, dear, what are you still doing home? I figured you would have plans with Leon tonight!" Melony said as she sat next to her, placing a hand on her back.

The trainer groaned. "Aunt Mel, you should know as well as anyone how much Rose has been working him lately…" She stood from the window seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know I love you, but why do all the gym leaders get to have the holidays off, while he's still stuck in Wyndon promoting the Gym Challenge. It's just not fair…"

"I know, sweetie, but he has responsibilities as champion that he won't always be able to get out of. You knew this before you started dating," Melony replied. 

Hiki nodded, knowing her aunt was right. What was important was that he was happy with his career! And being so far from each other all the time only made the times they were able to spend together even more special.

"Why don't you give him a call? He's probably finishing up soon!" her aunt suggested. "Even if you can't be in the same town tonight, that shouldn't mean you can't speak to each other!"

"That's not a bad idea… Thanks Aunt Mel!" She gave her a hug before grabbing her Rotom phone. "I'll go call him now!"

\---

Hiki bundled herself up before heading outside to sit on the bench. She dialed his number and touched up her hair as she waited for him to pick up. But the moment his face appeared on his screen, her face lit up. "Hi, Lee! Are you busy right now?"

"I just got home actually, what's up?" he asked, an amused smile on his face.

"Nothing's up! I just missed you, silly!" she responded, noticing the look on his face. "Wait, what's so funny?"

He chuckled, hardly able to keep his little Christmas secret in. "Ohhh, nothing at all! I was actually just about to call you myself! You don't have to miss me for much longer."

"You were?" It made her so happy to know that even with how busy he was, he always made time to contact her when he could. But then there was that last part of what he said… "Wait, what do you mean??" Was he coming to visit her or something?

"Look up!" he told her, pointing to the sky.

She did as he instructed and saw Charizard flying above her head! "You're here in Circhester!?"

"Not exactly!"

As Charizard landed in front of her aunt's house, she noticed that the champion wasn't with him. "You sent Charizard? But why? Don't you need him?"

"He's there to pick you up!" he told her with a smirk on his face. "Surprise!"

"Leon! Are you sure?? But what if someone sees me?" she asked, petting Charizard on the face, happy to see her boyfriend's partner.

"Don't worry! I have it all taken care of!" the champion said, and almost as if on cue, Charizard crouched down to reveal a gift box on his back.

Hiki took the box and lifted the lid, finding Leon's hat and cape inside. "I don't get it," she said with a laugh.

"Wear them while you're on Charizard and no one will realize it's you! Just keep your head down. Charizard knows what to do!"

She nodded with a big smile on her face, hardly able to contain her excitement. She was going to Wyndon to see Leon! In her mind, this was the best Christmas gift ever! "Let me go tell Aunt Mel and I'll see you soon!!"

\---

Charizard hovered in the air in front of the balcony of an apartment in East Wyndon, his wings flapping to keep him and his passenger in the air. The beast let out a cry to alert his trainer of their arrival. Leon opened the door with a smile on his face and a Santa hat on his head… which matched his cape that she was currently wearing surprisingly well.

Hiki couldn't help but laugh as her boyfriend took her hands to help her down from Charizard's back. "What are you wearing?" She hopped down onto the balcony and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him tightly. It had been weeks since she had seen him and she had missed him dearly.

"Come on, it's Christmas! What else am I supposed to wear?" He rested his chin on top of Hiki's head and held her close. It had been such a long day, but having her there made everything better. "Come on inside, I'll start a fire! Its freezing out here!"

He returned Charizard to his ball and led Hiki inside. As he knelt down to the fireplace to start the fire, she wandered around the living room and admired all of the awards that were hanging on his wall. She couldn't believe how fancy his apartment was! "Leon, this place is amazing! I can't believe you get to live here, just because you're the champion!" He chuckled lightly, and Hiki noticed a bit of sadness in his voice. But why? She turned to look at him with a questioning look on her face. "What?"

"I love living my dream up here! I love battling new challengers and meeting with fans and all, but living so far away from my Mum, my brother, and… you," he started as he stood up from the fireplace, but he was interrupted by a hug from behind from Hiki. 

So he was lonely? If only they hadn't decided to keep their relationship a secret from the public, then she could visit with him all the time! But they couldn't risk anyone seeing her coming in and out. "I'm so sorry, Lee… But hey! I'm here now, right? What made you decide to send Charizard to pick me up?"

"It's the first Christmas since you came back to Galar and our first Christmas as a couple," he told her. She could sense the shyness in his voice at that last part of that sentence. It was so cute how even someone who speaks in front of crowds like he does could get so nervous when it came to their relationship. He cleared his throat and turned around to face her. "I just… didn't want to miss it!"

Hiki couldn't help but smirk before lifting herself up onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "That makes me really happy! I'm really grateful you thought all of this out so we could spend time together."

He wore a goofy smile on his face as she pulled away from kissing him. "Yeah, but I haven't even told you the best part of it all!"

"There's more and you didn't tell me?" she asked, in a sarcastically offended tone.

"I wanted to wait until you got here to share the rest of your surprise!" He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I spoke with Chairman Rose this afternoon… and I took the rest of the week off! It took an awful lot of convincing, but we rescheduled all of my meetings until next week. I'll just be a little extra busy for a few days, but it will be worth it."

Hiki's face lit up brighter than the Christmas tree in his living room. "You really mean it??"

"I do! My Mum and little brother will be here tomorrow for Christmas day, but..." he said while rubbing the back of his head, a little nervous about the next thing he was about to tell her. "But if you're comfortable spending the day with my family, then you're more than welcome to stay over for the next few days!"

The two had been in a relationship for nearly 4 months and he had never invited her to stay with him at his apartment before. Sure, she had gone with him to visit his family in Postwick, and they had spent a few nights together in Circhester, but here he was asking her to spend nearly half a week in his own place! Not only that, but he wanted her to spend Christmas with him and his family! And she couldn't be happier! "Lee… It would mean the world to me if I could stay here with you!" She hugged him tightly and buried her face into his chest. "But only on one condition!"

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Okay, what would that be?"

"Aside from when your mom and Hop are here, you spend as much of your time off as possible resting and relaxing. You're always working… It makes me worry about your health!" It was incredibly rare for him to have a small vacation like this. She would feel guilty if he spent all of it spoiling her like he usually did when they were able to find time together.

"Hmm, I guess I could handle that… As long as I have a cuddle buddy," he half teased. 

Hiki let out a giggle at his choice of words that made Leon's heart melt. "Oh, you big baby… You really think I would leave you all alone?"

He laughed a little. "Nah, of course not. I just wanted to make sure you were all mine for the weekend!" He then leaned down to plant a kiss on her lips for the first time since she arrived that night. 

\---

Christmas night, after Leon’s mother and Hop had already come and gone, the two ate dinner together with the lights of the Christmas tree and light of the fire in the fireplace setting a romantic atmosphere as they shared their meal and talked with each other about some of the battles they had participated in recently. Once they finished eating, she helped him clean up the kitchen, though they ended up with more of a mess than when they started.

Leon couldn’t resist taking some of the suds from the dish water and blowing them in her face, which resulted in lots of laughter as the two of them splashing each other with the water. The entire kitchen was soaked! ...and so were their clothes. Once they finally settled down, Leon took her into his room so they could find something dry to wear and offered her one of his League jerseys to wear.

After she changed, the Champion struggled not to stare at her. She just looked so cute in his clothes! The shirt was just slightly too big for her, but she looked comfy. 

“Just one more thing to complete your new look!” he said, placing his favorite hat on her head. “There! Now you look like you’re ready to go out and have a Champion Time!”

They both laughed before the bluenette got up on her tiptoes to kiss him. Once they parted, she hugged him tightly and rested her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She sighed happily. 

"Hm? What is it?" Leon asked her then kissed the top of her head. 

"This has been the best Christmas I've ever had… and I just…" She paused for a moment. "I love you, Leon!"

"Y-You… you what?" Leon stuttered, struggling to find the proper words to say in response. His face was about as hot as his Charizard's flame. This was the first time she had ever said anything like this before.

Hiki quickly covered her mouth, immediately assuming she had said the wrong thing. "I-I'm sorry… Was that too weird?? I shouldn't have said that…" She pulled away from him and turned to face the other direction, completely embarrassed. "Pretend you didn't hear that, okay?"

He blinked, still a little shocked by what she had said. But then he noticed her embarrassment in response to his reaction. "Wait! Hiki, it's okay!" he said with a laugh as he hugged her from behind. "I just wasn't expecting that. The truth is… I love you, too! I just didn't know when the right moment was to say it."

Her eyes widened as she shifted around to face him once again. He really loved her back? "You mean it?"

"I mean it," he said before kissing her face. "I love you!"

Tears filled Hiki's eyes and she laughed to try to cover it up. Hearing the phrase coming from his mouth filled her with so many emotions, she hardly knew how to contain them. He kissed her cheeks multiple times, even kissing away her happy tears that inevitably started falling. When he stopped she buried her face into his shoulder as he gave her a big bear hug. "I love you, too. Thank you for bringing me here."

And for the rest of her stay, the two hardly left each other's embrace.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've had an update! There has been a lot going on in my personal life, so it's been hard to find the time and motivation... But I finally sat down this evening and got something written! The chapter following this one was written a while back, so I'm going to post it as well! Enjoy!

It had been about a year and a half since Hiki and Leon had started dating, and still they were careful to keep quiet about their relationship status from the public. Unfortunately, with how much time Leon spent in the spotlight, it didn’t leave a whole lot of time for the two of them to be together, but any time they were, they were sure to make up for any time they had lost.

The Gym Challenge season was coming to a close for the year, which left Leon with a lot of important responsibilities to take care of as Galar’s Champion. By the time of the Champion Cup, it had been nearly two months since the last time they had seen each other in person. Hiki decided to attend the tournament and surprise her boyfriend after it was over. Usually, once the Champion Cup is over and the season ends for the year, Leon isn’t as busy in the following months until it is time for the next season to start, which meant that evening they should have time to see each other and maybe even stay together somewhere!

The battle was very close, probably one of the closest battles he's ever had with anyone who wasn't Raihan since he became Champion! But he still did it! He defeated the challenger that everyone believed might threaten his title that year. It was a huge relief…

Hiki knew this battle had him feeling a little on edge for the past few days, but she was incredibly proud of him! He never lost his cool or showed any signs of nerves. She always loved seeing how comfortable he was battling. 

When the battle was over, Hiki left the stadium to meet him outside. She wanted to get out there before any fans might start to gather, or he would never find her in the crowd. By the time he came outside, a pretty large one had formed behind her, all excited to see their reigning Champion up close and in person.

"Lee!" Hiki called out when he was in her eyesight. She ran over to him, security not stopping her as they knew she was close to the Champion. He had told them many times not to hold her back from seeing him! Though this time, it might have been a good idea to do so…

He wasn't sure if it was from the adrenaline the battle brought him or that he was just excited to see her in person again after so long, but as soon as she was close enough, he put his hands on her face and planted a kiss on her lips. As he pulled away, he saw the look on Hiki's face and realized what he had just done. All those people gathered in front of the stadium saw what just happened.

Cameras were flashing from all angles as the crowd’s questions filled the air.  _ “Champion Leon, are you two dating?” “Hey, wasn’t she a Gym Challenger the same year Leon became Champion??” “What does this mean??” _ Taking only a second to react, Leon threw up his cape to cover Hiki as a member of security led them back toward the locker rooms.

When they were finally alone, Leon began pacing nervously. "Hiki… I'm so sorry… I don't know what I was thinking. I just… saw you and I was just so excited and--"

Hiki stepped in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders to stop him from pacing. "Lee… hey, it's okay! It's going to be just fine! We knew it wasn't going to stay a secret forever, right?"

He sighed. "I know… but there's going to be a lot of talk now, and I don't know what anyone is going to say about you… or about us." He knew the public could be a bit cruel when it came to popular figures having a relationship, and he wasn't going to stand for anyone saying anything that might hurt her.

"Don't worry about that! We will figure all of that out as it happens. But right now… I think we need to go back out there and explain ourselves… If we run it will only make things worse…" Hiki sighed and gave him a smile before wrapping her arms around his torso to hug him. She hoped the affectionate gesture would help to calm him down. “We’ll do this together!”

The Champion relaxed at her touch and raised his arms to return the hug, with his cheek resting on her forehead. He was so thankful she was keeping so calm in this situation. Anyone else might have called things off when it got to this point, but he could tell she wanted nothing more than to always be by his side, no matter what it took. The publicity they were about to get for this “scandal” as some would call it didn’t bother her in the slightest. “You’re the best…”

“Says the still Undefeated Champion!” The bluenette couldn’t help but giggle at his comment. “I haven’t had the chance to congratulate you for today! You were amazing out there!”

Suddenly, the door to the locker room opened and the couple jumped, feeling startled. “Don’t panic, it’s only me,” they heard Raihan’s voice call out and both sighed with relief. “It’s pretty wild out there right now. The Chairman’s dealing with the crowd right now… but I’ll warn you, he doesn’t seem happy.” It only made sense, of course. Rose was one of the ones kept in the dark about their relationship, which meant he found out through all of the commotion caused by their public kiss. The man was a little strict about Leon keeping a clean image, and keeping a secret relationship was probably the exact opposite in his eyes.

“What a mess…” Leon said with a sigh. Rose’s reaction never even crossed his mind. It was rare for the chairman to ever show his anger, but Leon had seen it happen a few times, even if it was never directed toward him. He had no idea what kind of response his boss was going to give them and if it were to be negative, he did not want Hiki to be on the receiving end. It might be for the best if he dealt with things himself for now, and then the two of them could officially announce their relationship to the public together once the madness settled. “Alright… Raihan, can you stay back here with Hiki? I’m going to go out there and try to--”

“Wait, what?” Hiki interrupted. “What happened to us doing this together?”

“I’m sorry, Love… I know how Rose can be. I think it might be easier to calm him down if I go alone. Besides, I’d rather not give him the chance to say something that might upset you.” He kissed the side of her head. “I’ll be back to get you once everything outside has settled, I promise.”

She watched as he left the locker room, a thousand questions buzzing through her head. Was Leon going to be in trouble because of this? 

\---

When Leon arrived outside, he was met by Chairman Rose who, while calm, carried a bit of a disapproving look on his face. The Champion felt his stomach drop, but he took a deep breath. “Chairman, listen, I can explain everything!”

Rose held up a hand, signalling him to stop talking. “What’s done is done. You don’t need to explain a thing to me, Leon. Right now what you need to do is explain yourself to the people of Galar and answer their questions.”

“Right,” Leon said with a nod. The crowd had nearly doubled in size at this point, with everyone wanting to find out what was going on between Leon and the “girl with blue hair.” Oleana and a few members of the League staff were now taking care of the crowd. The Champion walked up behind them and gave Oleana a tap on the shoulder, letting her know that he would take things from there. The fans erupted in cheers and questions as he stepped forward, cameras flashing all around him. He was used to having a lot of excitement surrounding him when there were crowds, but not like this. This time, things felt much different.

Leon cleared his throat as the crowd grew quieter to listen to what he had to say. 

\---

Back inside, Hiki took a seat on one of the benches next to where Raihan was standing. Her worry was as clear as day to him. “Hey, relax! Everything is going to be fine! Leon’s got this!” the dragon tamer said while taking a seat next to her. “I know things seem hectic right now, but that’s only because no one was expecting what they saw today. It will die down, trust me!” Since his own popularity had grown, Raihan had a bit of experience with having relationships in front of the public eye.

“I just don’t want this to mess things up for Lee… He’s worked so hard to get where he is now.”

“Hiki… you two have been together for over a year now. If you were going to get in the way of his career, you already would have. He loves you… and he loves being Champion! He’s not going to let either jeopardize the other! Rose and the others may not understand right now, but they’ll see in time,” he told her. “You keep that boy’s head on straight. He’d be even more lost than usual if he didn’t have you around! If they can’t support that, then who needs ‘em.”

Hiki giggled in response. “I guess you’re right. So you don’t think he’s going to get into any trouble with the Chairman?”

Raihan shrugged. “What’s he gonna do? Fire him as Champion? It would probably be the biggest mistake he’d ever make.”

That made sense. It was pretty common knowledge how much money Leon brought in for the Champion with how frequently his battles sold out. Not only that, but there would surely be other sorts of backlash if he were to ever do something like that. She felt a lot more relieved after talking with him about it.

As Raihan scrolled through his social media on his Rotom Phone, something happened to catch his eye. “Oh, look! Someone’s livestreaming what’s happening outside right now!” Hiki scooted closer to him so she could get a better look.

\---

“I’m sure all of you have plenty of questions about what you saw earlier, but allow me to explain. The girl you saw me with… her name is Hiki. Some of you may remember her from my own Gym Challenge the year I became Champion. We have been very close friends ever since then.” Leon took a deep breath before continuing. “And yes, she is now my girlfriend and has been for over a year now. We decided to keep our relationship a secret because we weren’t sure how anyone was going to respond to that kind of news. I realize now that was probably the wrong way to handle things, and I apologize. I hope all of you understand.”

He closed his eyes and a smile formed on his face as he pictured her. He finally had the chance to brag about her, so he definitely wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. Especially since she wasn’t out there listening… though he had no idea she was watching from inside the locker room with Raihan. “Hiki is… a very special girl. I’m the one who is lucky to have her,” he began, responding to a few whispers he heard saying how lucky she was to be dating the Champion. “She’s the kind of person who puts the people and Pokemon she cares about before herself. She’s always wanting to help those in need and she takes exceptionally good care of her Pokemon! And not just her Pokemon. My own Pokemon absolutely adore her! I’ve never met anyone who loves Pokemon as much as she does!”

“Hiki is very sweet and she makes me happy… I love her! So please… I hope you can all accept her as your Champion’s girlfriend and that you will all treat her with kindness. It’s what she deserves!”

\---

Raihan laughed at how red Hiki’s face was as the livestream ended. “I’d say that went pretty well,” he said.

“I can’t believe he said all of that in front of all those people…” Hiki responded, unsure what to think.

The dragon tamer scoffed. “I can! He says that stuff to me all the time!” When her face grew a darker shade of red, he threw her a grin. “Like I said before, he really loves you. And now that your relationship isn’t a secret anymore, he’ll make sure everyone in Galar knows that!”

She stared down at her feet with a smile on her face. Things were going to be a lot different now… but with things finally being public, they would be able to spend more time together! No more worrying about someone spotting her leaving his apartment when she stays over or having to plan dates in private areas so they don’t risk getting seen! She couldn’t wait to see what things were going to be like from then on!


	13. Chapter 13

Every year around the holidays, Leon had off from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve. For the past two years since they had started dating they had made it a tradition to fly Hiki from Circhester to Wyndon so they could spend that week together, with Christmas Day spent with his mom and Hop. This year was a little different from the others, however. This was the first year that they had been public about their relationship, which meant they could spend this time together out in the city, taking in all the festivities it had to offer. 

On New Years Eve, Leon noticed Hiki slowly growing more and more sad as the day went on. Over the last couple days, all she could talk about was getting to see the fireworks with him at midnight and even dropped a few not-so-subtle hints about how she was looking forward to that special midnight kiss… so why didn’t see seem happy? He hoped what he planned to ask her that night would cheer her up, but they were still hours away from that happening. He needed to know what was bothering her so much.

They stopped at a food stand to grab a snack. While they were sitting side by side on a bench, eating, he heard her sigh to herself and decided it was as good of a time as any to ask what was on her mind. “Everything okay, Love? You’ve been awfully quiet today. Aren’t you having fun?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m having a lot of fun!” She responded before flashing him a smile. It wasn’t a lie! She really was enjoying her time with him.

“Then is there something on your mind?”

And there it was again. That almost depressing sigh. “It’s New Years Eve, Lee…”

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Of course it is! And we’ve both been looking forward to tonight! That’s why we’re here! So… what’s the problem?”

She stared at the ground in front of them and kicked her legs back and forth. “Tomorrow… you go back to work and I have to go back to Circhester. It’s almost over…”

“Ah…” So that’s what this was about. If only she knew about the gifts he wanted to give her at midnight… Then she wouldn’t be worried at all!

Hiki looked over to him with a glaring pout. “That’s all you’re going to say?” Why did he even ask if he wasn’t going to try to make her feel better.

“Huh? Oh!” He shook his head, a little embarrassed that he got caught up in his thoughts instead of giving her an actual response. But he couldn’t exactly tell her what was on  _ his _ mind. Not yet, at least. “No, I was just… thinking. I’m not ready for it to be over either, but shouldn’t we try to enjoy what time we do have left as much as we can?”

She felt a little guilty for snapping at him like that. She knew better than to think he was being inconsiderate, but he  _ did _ seem a little distracted, himself. “Yeah, that’s a good point. Sorry for being so mopey.” She rested her head on his shoulder and he put an arm around her.

“Don’t worry about it! We’ll just have to make today extra fun!” He kissed her head before standing up and holding out a hand for her to take. “Come on! There’s lots of games we can go play! I’ll win a big stuffed Pokemon for you!”

She giggled at the thought of it. He may be really good at Pokemon battles, but when it came to carnival games… he wasn’t so talented. But when he set his mind on something, he didn’t stop until he succeeded. She took his hand and stood, but before they could walk away, she tugged on his hand to pull him into her for a hug. “Thank you…”

\---

After hours of games and laughs, Leon finally won a stuffed Scorbunny for Hiki. It wasn’t exactly the giant one like he had planned, but it was still big enough for her to cuddle in her arms as they walked together and she couldn’t have asked for a better prize. She was just happy that he won it for her!

“You know, there isn’t very much time left until the fireworks… We should probably find a good place to watch them from!” Hiki told him. “I’ve heard the grassy area in front of Rose Tower is a good place to go!”

He chuckled, already having something arranged for them. “I know of somewhere even better than that!” He took her hand and led her toward the ferris wheel, which had an awfully long line.

“The ferris wheel? But don’t you see all of those people waiting in line? There’s no way we will get on before midnight!”

“You worry too much, Hiki! Just trust me on this!” He told her with a wink. As it turned out, he arranged things with the festival staff to be able to get on at just the right time, which would leave them at the top the moment the clock struck midnight. Being the Champion had its perks.

Once they got on, Hiki laughed a little. “Now that’s just unfair! All those poor people down there waiting in line to get on and we just get to cut the line?”

“I’m sure it will be okay! I’ve had this planned for weeks! The staff probably warned them before they even got in line!”

Her eyebrow raised. “Weeks, huh?”

His cheeks turned a little red. “Well… yeah! It’s a special night for couples! So I… ahem… I wanted to make sure ours was extra special! Especially with what we talked about earlier.”

She smiled and reached forward to take his hand since they were sitting across from each other. He was a lot more thoughtful than most people like to give him credit for. “That really means a lot, Leon!”

He smiled back at her and rubbed his thumb over her hand. It was almost time… He checked his watch. 

_ 11:58PM _

He took a deep breath and pulled out a small gift box from his pocket. And Hiki’s jaw dropped slightly. “W-Wait… We were exchanging gifts?? I didn’t bring anything to give yo--”

“Hey, it’s okay!” He gave her a big smile. The one where he shows his teeth, that always made her heart melt. “This is kind of for both of us in a way, anyway!”

She eyed him suspiciously with a smile on her own face, hardly able to contain her excitement and removed the ribbon. She opened it and found a dainty ring with a red stone in it. “Lee… this is so pretty.” He had never bought her jewelry before. It definitely wasn’t a proposal ring or she probably would have passed out. But what made him decide to get it for her?

_ 11:59PM _

“It’s… a promise ring. I know we don’t always have a lot of time to spend with each other, but I wanted you to have it to remind you that no matter what, you’re always in my heart.” Before he could even finish, there were tears in her eyes. He chuckled and helped her put the ring on her index finger, then wiped away a tear from her cheek. “Wait, not yet! That’s not all!”

Hiki sniffled. “There’s more?” she asked, only feeling  _ more _ emotional because of that, rather than calmer. Besides, how could anything top that?

_ 30 seconds… _

He cleared his throat, trying not to get emotional himself at the sight of her tears. The ferris wheel stopped, with them at the very top as he continued. “There’s something else in the box…” He was starting to get a little nervous.

_ 20 seconds… _

Hiki blinked and looked down at the box again and removed the small pillow that the ring was resting on. “A… key?”

From down below, they could hear the sound of people counting down the seconds. “Well… I’ve been thinking… and I even talked to your Aunt Melony about it, and now that we don’t have to hide our relationship from anyone anymore… if it’s okay with you…”

_ 10… 9… 8… _

“I’d like you to… move into my apartment with me.”

_ 7… 6… 5… _

Hiki stared at him, her eyes wide. She didn’t even have any words to explain how it made her feel. But she knew exactly how to show him.

_ 4… 3… 2… _

She quickly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him right on the lips.

_ 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!! _

Fireworks started to go off in the distance as they kissed, making the moment that much more magical. When she finally pulled away from him, he laughed and put his hand on her face. “So does that mean you will?” 

She laughed too and placed her own hand on his. “Of course I will!”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have finally arrived to the beginning of the Sword and Shield games! I plan to write quite a few chapters covering this, though most of them will focus more on the end game plot! I also have plans for the areas coming in the DLC, so watch for that too!
> 
> Enjoy! And please leave comments with your thoughts if you don't mind! I love hearing feedback!

_ 3 years later… _

A light shone through the bedroom window, hitting Hiki directly in the face and woke her from her peaceful slumber. She groaned softly and sat up to stretch. As she did, a pair of arms snaked their way around her torso, holding her down from leaving the bed. Hiki chuckled and looked down at the mess of purple hair next to her and ran her fingers through it until she could see Leon’s face. “Good morning, sleepy head!”

“Just a few more minutes…” the Champion whined, pulling her back down with him. She did as he wished with no protests, as these early morning cuddles were her favorite way to start the day. Mornings just like this one were common since she moved in with him a few years ago, the exceptions being the days he had to be up early for League business. But the Gym Challenge season didn’t start for a few more weeks, so they were free to spend their morning this way.

When Hiki was back down to his level, Leon pulled her in close and gave her a sleepy kiss on the cheek before burying his face into her neck. She sighed happily and stroked his hair, trying to smooth some of his bed head away. “We can’t stay in bed too long today. You  _ did _ promise that we would make a trip to Postwick today to take Hop and his friend those starter Pokemon.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget…” he responded with a yawn. “We still have a few hours until it’s time to catch the train, so…” His words trailed off as he hugged her close. He felt so relaxed as she played with his hair. Once the Gym Challenge starts, they wouldn’t get to sleep in as often, so they might as well take advantage of it while they could!

\---

As she usually did, Hiki was the first one out of bed once their little cuddle session came to an end, so she would be able to make them breakfast before their trip to Postwick. 

Leon yawned as he entered the kitchen and sat at the table. He was greeted with a kiss on the side of his head from his loving girlfriend as she sat a plate of food in front of him. A warm smile spread across the Champion's face before he started eating. "Thank you, Love! This looks amazing!"

Hiki took her seat across from him with her own meal, beaming from his compliment. She learned how to cook all of his favorites by helping his mother in the kitchen any time they visit. It made her happy to see him enjoy her cooking so much! “So do you have everything packed for today? I’ll bet Hop is just so excited to see you!” she stated while taking a bite of her breakfast. 

Leon nodded. The Pokeballs for the three starter Pokemon he was bringing to give to Hop and his friend Gloria were tucked away in the bag they packed for their trip. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to see him or Mum… Probably since Christmas!” He tapped a finger on his chin. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve even met this friend of his in person before. But I know my little brother is awfully fond of her!”

Resting her cheek in her hand, Hiki let out a giggle. “I wonder if they’re as close as we were when we were kids…” she thought out loud.

The Champion simply shrugged. “They  _ have _ known each other longer than we had back then, so who can really say! But as long as she’s a good friend of his, I can’t wait to meet her!” He stood from the table and took both of their empty plates to the sink. They would deal with clean up when they got back home! 

He put his hands on his hips and turned to face her with a smile as she brought him his cape. Even if he was going to see his family, he was still technically on League duty by delivering starter Pokemon to young trainers.

“Let’s get going, then!” The blunette planted a kiss on his cheek after draping the cape over his shoulders.

\---

After traveling for a few hours, Hiki and Leon stepped off the train in Wedgehurst. The inside of the train station was relatively empty, as the staff asked any fans that had gathered to welcome him home to wait outside. He pulled Charizard’s Pokeball from his pocket and released the big orange lizard, who gave a happy growl to greet his trainer. Hiki stepped toward the Pokemon to pet his head to which he nuzzled his face into her hands affectionately. 

Once the three of them were ready, they finally stepped outside the station to thank everyone for meeting them there. The crowd was smaller than the ones they were used to seeing in Wyndon, as Wedgehurst was a much smaller town. They all cheered upon seeing their Champion! Leon ate the attention right up and gave them his signature “Charizard Pose,” to which they only cheered louder.

“Hello, hello, Wedgehurst! Your Champion, Leon, is back!” He crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke confidently to his fans. “I promise I’ll keep doing my best to deliver the greatest battles for you all to watch!”

“It’s our unbeatable Champion!” someone shouted. “Leon, you and Charizard are the greatest!”

Hiki watched with a proud smile next to Charizard. She was so happy to see all of the positive attention her boyfriend was getting. “Well thank you for that!” Leon responded before gesturing to Hiki. Her eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do and she shook her head in protest. “But Charizard and I aren’t the only ones here to see you today! My lovely girlfriend is also joining us!”

“Leeee…” Hiki whined in embarrassment. But much to her surprise, it seemed they were quite excited to see her as well! Her face grew red as she waved to them shyly.

Leon chuckled, happy to see that she was being welcomed too. Turning back to the crowd, he continued. “I hope you’ll all carry on training up your Pokemon and never shy from battle. Then come challenge me for the Champion title!” Obviously, since he was still technically working, he had to plug the Gym Challenge, but it didn’t bother him all that much. It only meant encouraging trainers to battle him! 

“We’re on it! We’ve all been working on our battle skills just like you’ve taught us to, Lee!” one of the trainers said.

“But that Charizard of yours is too strong for the likes of us to take on!” said another.

The Champion lowered his head. “Too true that Charizard is blazingly strong. But other Pokemon can be strong as well! That’s why I want the strongest of challengers to fill the Gym Challenge and come battle me!” he said, speaking from his own heart and not just saying what the League would expect him to say. “My wish is for Galar’s Trainers to work together to become the strongest in all the world!” Charizard let out a roar of approval as the fans cheered for their beloved Champion.

Suddenly, from behind the crowd, a hand waved from side to side in the air. “Lee!” a familiar voice shouted out.

Leon smiled brightly, recognizing the voice to belong to his brother. “Hop!” he said as he walked through the sea of people to meet his sibling. “So, my number-one fan in all the world has come out of his way to pick us up!”

Hiki followed behind him, wanting to greet the young boy as well. She had been dating his brother for over 4 years and considered him to be like family to her too! “It’s great to see you, Hop!”

“Look at you, Hop!” the Champion said with a proud tone in his voice. “I reckon you’ve grown… exactly an inch and a quarter since the last time I saw you!”

“Bingo!” Hop responded excitedly. “That’s the sort of sharp eye that’s kept you undefeated so long, eh, Lee?”

Leon smiled, giving him a nod before noticing the young girl standing next to him. “And these bright eyes over here…” Was this his friend? She certainly fit the description he gave him before! “I’ve got it! You must be Gloria, am I right? I’ve heard loads about you from my little brother!”

The girl seemed a little star-struck, having the famous undefeated Champion know who she was, though she really shouldn’t have been surprised considering his brother was her very best friend. “Y-Yes, that’s right! It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“I’m the Galar Region’s greatest-ever Pokemon Champion… and a massive Charizard fan, too. People call me the unbeatable Leon!” he exclaimed, officially introducing himself to his family’s neighbor.

Hop, knowing that his brother brought gifts for the two of them, couldn’t wait to get home. “Come on, Lee, Hiki, and you too, Gloria! Bet I can beat the three of you back home!” he teased, then broke out into a run back to his house.

“That Hop… Always wanting to be the best, isn’t he? With a proper rival of his own, I bet he’d push himself to become something truly special...” Leon said, speaking to no one in particular. He then turned to face his fans one last time, striking his “Charizard Pose” for them again. “Well, everyone! I bid you farewell for today! But don’t you fret… I’ll always be around to make sure everyone in Galar can have a Champion Time!” And with a ‘whoosh’ of his cape, he dashed after his brother.

Hiki giggled while watching the two race back to their house. It reminded her of the day she and Leon met and he challenged her to race him to the Gym Challenge Opening Ceremonies. “Those two are so much alike…” she said to Gloria.

“Hop really admires Leon! He’s always saying he wants to grow up to be just like him!” the younger girl responded.

“Well he’s definitely on his way!” Hiki flashed her a smile, then turned to Charizard. “Why don’t the three of us follow them! Lee has something special planned for you and Hop!”

\---

Once they all arrived at Hop and Leon’s house, they all stood outside in the yard. Hop could hardly contain his excitement! “Come on, Lee! You promised us a present! So out with it! You brought Gloria and me Pokemon. You did, didn’t you? You must have!”

Leon laughed. His brother knew him all too well! “Right then! The greatest gift from the greatest Champion… It’s showtime, everyone!” The Champion pulled the three Pokeballs from his pocket and tossed them to the practice battlefield beside him. “Take a good look, you two!”

The three Pokemon emerged from their balls and he introduced each of them to the young trainers. “The Grass-type Pokemon, Grookey… The Fire-type Pokemon, Scorbunny… And the Water-type Pokemon, Sobble…” The Pokemon scampered around and played. While Grookey was up in the tree, Sobble relaxed in the pond below. The Water-type accidentally shot out a small blast of water right at Scorbunny. The soaked Pokemon jumped in surprise and hit its head on the branch the monkey happened to be on, causing Grookey to drop a berry it had found right into the pond, startling Sobble. The small reptile then began to cry, so the other two came to console it.

When the commotion between the Pokemon was settled, Leon called out to them. “All right! Line up, everyone!” The Pokemon did as they were told, knowing the most important moment of their lives was about to happen! They were about to be chosen by a trainer! “Which will you choose?” Leon asked Hop and Gloria.

“Go on, you pick first!” Hop said to his friend. “I’ve already got my Wooloo, after all!”

Gloria knelt down in front of the Pokemon. They were all so cute! It made the decision a little difficult for her to choose her first ever Pokemon! However, one in particular seemed to catch her eye.

“The Grass-type Pokemon, Grookey, eh?” Leon asked as she turned to face the green monkey. “It’s soothing, like a nice, long walk in the woods.”

The young girl smiled at the Pokemon and reached her hand out to it. “I choose you! You’ll be my partner, won’t you?” Grookey cried out happily before jumping up to give her a small high-five.

“So it’ll be Grookey for you? Nice one!” Hop said, happy for his friend. He then turned to the two remaining Pokemon. But his decision wasn’t difficult, as something was drawing him to Sobble. “I’ll go with Sobble! You’re mine!” He knelt down to the timid Pokemon. “I’m aiming to be the next Champion, so be ready! You and I’ll be doing some serious training!” The small Pokemon chirped happily in response. Hop’s Wooloo walked over to greet its new teammate, happy to have a new friend!

“I bet you will be, Hop!” Leon told him, giving his little brother a bit of a confidence boost. He knew it was very possible that someday he really could be the one to come take his title away from him! “That’s why I brought these Pokemon along for you and Gloria! So the two of you can battle and train and grow stronger together… to try to reach me!”

The Scorbunny who was standing all alone, looked around. It was the only one not chosen by one of the two trainers. The Champion stood in front of the small rabbit with a friendly smile. “You’ll come with me! Charizard will show you the ropes! He’s strict, but real strong and real kind too!” Scorbunny leaped with joy, happy to be so lucky to be chosen by such an amazing trainer!

“All right, enough of all this trainer nonsense for one night,” a female’s voice said. Everyone turned to see that it was Hop and Leon’s mother, Rosalyn, speaking to them and Gloria’s mother was standing next to her. “Dinner’s ready, children. Bring along your Pokemon, and let’s all eat!

\---

After the barbeque the two mothers had prepared was over, Gloria and her mother walked back home. Hiki was inside with Rosalyn, helping her clean the kitchen while the two brothers spent some time together outside with their Pokemon while the sun was still out.

Hiki stood next to Rosalyn, drying the dishes had just washed as they watched the two boys having a practice battle out the window. “So how are things up in Wyndon?” the woman asked. “Has that son of mine been treating you well?”

The bluenette giggled at her question. “You know he is! He’s always been so good to me!” She folded the towel she was using and sat it down then turned around to lean against the counter. “Wyndon is really nice, though! It’s such a big city! Even after being there for three years, I still struggle to find my way around sometimes… It really makes me wonder how Leon has been able to survive up there sometimes with how easily he gets lost.”

“Thank Arceus he’s had plenty of help since he moved up there!” Rosalyn chuckled for a moment, but her tone grew a little more serious. “It’s not even that he doesn’t know where he’s going… That boy is just always so distracted… He has so much on his plate anymore.” 

Hiki’s eyes drifted toward the floor as she recalled last year’s Gym Challenge season. It was the busiest she had ever seen him. This year could be just as bad… “Rosa… do you ever worry that they are overworking him?”

The woman gazed out the window at her oldest son and sighed. “That’s been a concern of mine for quite some time now. In recent years, he hardly ever gets to come home. But… he’s doing what he loves so it’s not my place to step in and tell them not to push him so hard. As long as he takes care of himself in the process, then I’m happy.” She then looked over to Hiki, noticing the concern on the girl’s face and reached out to lift her chin slightly. “And the fact that he has someone like you to come home to every night… I know I have nothing to worry about! I’m sure he knows his limits, and if things ever get to really be too much for him, I trust that you will be the first person he tells.”

Hiki smiled, thankful that his mother had so much faith in her. “I sure hope so!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small bit of foreshadowing going on there at the end... Stay tuned! ;)


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, Hiki woke to an empty bed, as Leon got up early to check on Hop and Gloria with their new Pokemon. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, hearing voices outside of the house. It sounded like Hop and Gloria were having a Pokemon battle!

After getting herself ready for the day, Hiki went outside to meet them just as the battle came to an end. From what she could tell, Gloria had actually beaten Hop! “Well, that was a shock!” her boyfriend’s younger brother said. “Guess I now know why Lee thought he should give you a Pokemon, too!”

“You and your Pokemon fought hard!” Leon said in response. “Made me almost want to let out Charizard and join in on all the fun!”

Hiki stood next to him and bumped him with her hip, a smirk on her face. “Now, how fair would that be? Your super strong Charizard against their brand new starter Pokemon?”

The Champion snickered. “Well good morning to you too, Love.”

“Morning, Hiki!” Hop said as his brother placed an arm around her and kissed her on the side of the head.

Leon turned to face Gloria with a smile on his face. This girl beat his brother in her very first ever battle. He was impressed to say the least. “Gloria, you’ve got real promise! In fact, I’ve got a favor to ask you…” he said to her. He then glanced over to his brother. “Be a real rival to Hop, would you? Push him, and make the both of you stronger!”

“I already want to get stronger and stronger!” Hop responded. “You’ve seen me battle now, Lee, so come on! You’ve gotta let me take on the Pokemon Gyms!”

“You? Join the Gym Challenge? You think you’re ready for the single greatest competition in the Galar Region?” He should have known this was coming. Hop was 11, a whole year older than he was when he took on the Gyms, himself. But he still wasn’t sure his little brother was ready for something like that. It was possible he could end up facing him in the Champion Cup, which meant if he were to defeat him and take his title, he would be left with all of the responsibilities Leon had to take on every day. And being so young with that kind of weight on your shoulders was tough… He had been there. “Not putting the cart before the Rapidash there, Little Brother?”

“If that's really what you want to do, you two have a whole lot you need to learn about Pokemon. Especially your friend Gloria.” She had only had her Pokemon for a single day. Would she really be ready to take on something as big as the Gym Challenge? In his opinion, it would be in both of their best interest if they held off on the competition and spent some time training and studying Pokemon with a Pokedex from the Professor… “Before you think about getting Gym Badges, best to think about getting a Pokedex. A Trainer’s Pokedex helps them learn lots of things about all the Pokemon out there, including their strengths. But it’s more than just a collection of data, you know. It’s a record of a Trainer’s love and passion for Pokemon training!”

“Right, right, we get it…” Hop said. “Pokedexes, then! We’re on it! Looks like it’s off to the Pokemon Research Lab for you and me, Gloria!”

“That’s the kind of enthusiasm a Trainer needs! I’ll let the professor know to expect you,” the Champion responded. He was glad his brother wasn’t going to argue. Now if only he could talk him into holding off on the Gym Challenge…

“I’m going to be the next Champion, so completing a simple Pokedex will be nothing! Just another page in the tale of my legend!” The young trainer turned to face his friend. “You’d probably better go tell your mum that we’re heading out, though.” 

As the two kids left for Gloria’s house, Leon breathed a heavy sigh. Hiki looked up to him with concern. “What’s the matter?”

His face turned red when he realized she had heard that. “Ah… well, it’s nothing, don’t worry!”

“Leooon…” And there it was. That pouty look she gave him anytime he tried to hide how he felt about something. He should have known he wouldn’t be able to keep it from her.

“Alriiight…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea for Hop to take on the Gym Challenge just yet… I don’t think he’s ready!”

His girlfriend tilted her head in confusion. “Why wouldn’t he be? He’s been waiting years for this!”

“He’s too young…”

Hiki snorted. “Too young? Lee, we were younger than him when we entered the Gym Challenge!”

“But that was before I knew what it  _ really _ means to be Champion… It’s a lot more than just winning battles and smiling for cameras…” he replied, sounding a little worried.

So that’s what this was about… He was concerned about Hop taking on the burdens that were placed on him as a child. The bluenette wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. “You’re right… but hey! It’s not like he’d have to handle it all alone!” She looked up to him with a bright smile on her face. “He’s got a pretty amazing brother who would be able to show him the ropes! He’ll always have you to look after him!”

A warm smile creeped onto his face as she said these words. She had a good point! “What would I do without you?” He leaned in and kissed her on the nose. “I guess I should give Professor Magnolia a ring and let her know those two will be arriving soon, huh?”

\---

After quite some time had passed, Leon called Professor Magnolia again, wondering why he hadn’t heard from her or Hop about him picking up his Pokedex. When she answered, she told him that neither Hop nor Gloria had shown up to her lab yet. The lab wasn’t very far away from Postwick, which meant if they were heading straight there like he expected them to, they would have been there already.

When he made the call, he and Hiki were sitting in the living room of his mother’s home. Hiki could hear everything being said on the call with him sitting next to her, so when he got up to leave after hanging up the call, she stood to follow him. “I’m coming too!”

Leon was happy to know his girlfriend was also concerned for his little brother and didn’t argue with her when she volunteered to help find him. Postwick and Wedgehurst were both very safe towns, so he was pretty sure they wouldn’t have run into anything dangerous.

Unless… they tried to go into the Slumbering Weald.

As they left the house, Leon happened to notice the gate keeping anyone out of the dangerous forest to be wide open. “I don’t understand…” he heard Hiki say when they stepped toward the open gate. “Why would they go in there, knowing this place is off limits?”

“That’s what I’d like to know, too,” Leon responded as he inspected the gate. It almost looked like it had been forced open… “Let’s go check it out, but stay with me!”

Hiki nodded and took his hand so he could be reassured that she was with him at all times while in there. She remembered hearing stories from Sonia when they were younger about this place, so she knew it could be pretty scary.

Leon released his Charizard from his Pokeball so the Pokemon could protect them both from any possible danger.

When they finally found the two young trainers, they were laying on the ground. Did they pass out or something? Hiki glanced to the side to see a fainted Wooloo. She knelt down to the Pokemon to examine it. “It’s not Hop’s… It doesn’t have the bracelet he made for his.” She reached into her bag for a Revive.

Just then, the younger trainers came to and started to lift themselves off the ground. “Hop! Gloria!” Leon shouted before running toward them while Hiki and his Charizard kept an eye on the sheep.

Hop, who seemed to be awfully calm about the matter, looked up at his older brother. “Wha-? Lee? How’d you manage to find your way here? You’re pants with directions. You always get lost.”

Leon placed his hands on his hips and gave Hop a look of disappointment. Just when he was warming up to the thought of him going off on his own Gym Challenge, he pulls something like this! “Oh, that’s nice to hear from the little brother who had me worried sick!” He shook his head. “We’d been waiting ages for you two and you never showed! Of course we came looking for the both of you!”

“Wait, where’s the Wooloo?” Hop questioned urgently. “We were trying to rescue that Wooloo!”

The Wooloo? So they were trying to save a Pokemon… That meant they didn’t just run into the forest for no reason. Still, it was reckless of them. Leon smiled anyway and turned to face Hiki and his Charizard with the wild Wooloo. Hiki was petting the creature and it let out a happy “Meh!”

“The little chap’s just fine!” the Champion responded. “Though all of you had fainted by the time we found you here. You know this place is out of bounds…” he started to scold, but he sighed. Watching Hiki tend to the Pokemon, he was reminded of their good intentions. “But it took courage to come in here all the same. And I can understand well enough why you did it. You did good, Hop!”

“And at least that Wooloo is alright… Yeah, Gloria?” He looked over to his friend with a relieved smile on his face. “I thought we’d had it when that weird fog started rolling in and that mad Pokemon attacked… but at least it wasn’t all for nothing!”

Hiki and Leon both looked at each other with confusion as well as concern, then back to Hop. “Attacked by some mad Pokemon? What are you talking about, Hop?”

“It seemed loads stronger than any Pokemon I’ve ever seen. And it just had this sort of presence…” he explained. “Our moves didn’t even touch it. I mean, really, they seemed to pass right through it!”

The older brother crossed his arms. “Your moves passed right through it? So, the fearsome Pokemon they say live in the Slumbering Weald… Are they actually illusions or something?” It was the only option that made sense. Either way, he was impressed that the two were able to challenge it. Even he hadn’t ever had the chance to do such a thing! “Get strong enough and maybe the two of you could be the ones to reveal the truth someday.”

Hiki finally stood and joined the rest of the group, Charizard following behind her.

“For now, let’s simply get out of this place. You’ll be all right now that I’m here with you!” Leon told them.

As the two adults led them out of the forest, Hop turned to Gloria and whispered, “Even if we did get an earful from Lee, what an experience! This’ll make a pretty fine first page in the tale of my legend!”

\---

After everyone was out of the Slumbering Weald safely, the four trainers traveled together to the Pokemon Research Lab in Wedgehurst. Professor Magnolia had already gone home for the day, but Sonia and Yamper stayed behind to wait for them to arrive. She gave both Hop and Gloria their Pokedexes and sent them, along with Leon, to her grandmother’s home on Route 2 so they could let her know they received them.

Hiki decided to stay behind in the Lab to catch up with Sonia. Yamper hopped around playfully at her feet, excited that she was there to visit. Hiki laughed and crouched down to pet the little dog.

“So how have things been going with you and Lee?” Sonia asked, giggling a little herself when Yamper rolled over onto his back for Hiki to rub his belly. 

“Things are great! Moving in with him was probably the best thing I’ve ever done! Sure, he’s still busy, but now I get to see him every day. It’s made me really happy…” the bluenette told her, the tone in her voice softening. 

Happy for her friend, Sonia smiled. “But it’s getting to be that time of year again… I know his schedule is pretty packed once the Gym Challenge season starts up.”

Hiki nodded, but kept a positive attitude. “It’s okay, though. When he’s away more it just makes the times we spend together that much more special!”

“That’s the spirit!” the redhead responded.

\---

Later that evening, Leon popped into the Lab to pick Hiki up so they could return to Wyndon that night. As they walked back to his mother’s house to tell her goodbye and get their bags, Hiki noticed Leon was being a little quiet. She took his hand in hers. “So how did it go?”

He squeezed her hand, happy to have contact with her and rubbed his head with his other hand. “I ended up writing those two endorsement letters… Hop kind of had Professor Magnolia talk me into it.”

Hiki laughed at the thought of them ganging up on him. “I knew you would end up giving in anyway, you big softie!”

“Hey! I’m not  _ that _ soft!” he responded, laughing along with her. “But I have a feeling the Gym Challenge this year is definitely going to be an interesting one.”

And he had no idea just how right he was...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far! Please remember to leave your feedback and let me know what you think of the story so far! I have some exciting chapters coming soon, starting with Chapter 17, so stay tuned!


	16. Chapter 16

_ A few months later… _

That morning Hiki was sure to get up extra early. Even if she was awake earlier than usual, she still wasn’t up in time to see Leon off for the day, but she decided it was okay! She had a plan in mind to surprise him that day with lunch! For the last couple of weeks, he was working in Hammerlocke with Chairman Rose in the Power Plant below Raihan’s Gym. She didn’t know all of the details, but it had something to do with Galar’s future energy supply.

Either way, it would also give her the chance to check in on Raihan, too! It was later in the Gym Challenge season, which meant his challengers were starting to pour in. He wasn’t nearly as busy as Leon, but she still hadn’t had much of a chance to see him!

Meanwhile, Sonia had been running all over the region to research a historic event, known as The Darkest Day, which meant she had little time to spend with her too. Things had been a little lonely for Hiki, so taking this day trip to Hammerlocke would probably do her some good!

When she was ready to go, she called a Corviknight Taxi to pick her up in downtown Wyndon. During the flight, a few red beams of light shot up into the sky off nearby. It looked like the same beams that one would see in the Wild Area when a wild Dynamax Pokemon appeared. But it was way too close to be in the Wild Area…

“That can’t be good…” the pilot said to her. “Those lights are coming from right outside the city.”

Hiki peaked her face out the open window to try and get a better look. She could see enraged Dynamaxed Pokemon gathered in the area, attacking other nearby Pokemon. What could have caused something like this to happen?

“You know, I heard a rumor recently about some crazy experiments the League Chairman has been conducting and the Champion’s been helping him. I bet this was caused by that...” 

Hiki’s head quickly whipped to face the pilot above her. “Crazy experiments? What do you mean…?” It seemed that the pilot didn’t know of her relationship to Leon, or he probably wouldn’t be telling her these things… Still, she had to know.

“Down in the Power Plant! Word has it that he has some incredibly powerful Pokemon down there that he’s been extracting Dynamax Energy from. My guess is something went wrong.” She definitely didn’t like the sound of that… But rumors aren’t always truthful, right? Would Leon really let himself get involved in something like that?

Hiki looked back down toward the Dynamaxed Pokemon, full of anxiety and worry, when she noticed there were fewer than before. That was when she spotted Charizard.

“Well would you look at that… It looks like the Champion is already taking care of things. That’s Leon for you!” the man said.

\---

By the time she landed in Hammerlocke, the commotion was long over, but her worries hadn’t calmed down. She immediately made her way to the Stadium, where she saw Raihan standing outside.

“Rai! Where’s Leon? I need to see him!” she told him, somewhat frantically.

“You just missed him! He and Rose had to take care of some things down in the Power Plant.” Judging by the tone in her voice, he was sure she heard about what happened on the route between Hammerlocke and Spikemuth. “But don’t worry, he’s fine!”

Hiki looked past him toward the building. The Power Plant  _ was _ in his Gym… Did that mean he had access? “Can’t you let me in? I came to surprise him with some lunch…”

The Gym Leader sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Hiki… No can do. The key I have for the elevator is only to be used in emergencies. And there’s no way Rose’s secretary is going to let anyone down there right now.” He noticed the disappointment in her eyes as he said this, which made him feel slightly guilty. “But… maybe if we go talk to her, she can take the meal to him for you!”

A small smile formed on her face at his request. She appreciated that he was trying at least. As they walked, she decided to ask about what the taxi pilot said to her on the flight over. “Are the rumors going around true…?”

“Rumors?” he questioned back.

“Today I heard that Rose has been experimenting on some really powerful Pokemon and that Leon has been helping him. I’m a little worried he could be involved in something dangerous…”

“Oh,  _ that _ rumor…” Of course, Raihan knew exactly what was going on, but in order to keep Hiki out of any possible danger, he promised Leon that he wouldn’t tell her anything. Though, the fact that it was starting to spread around the region made that a little difficult. “I’m sure if there was anything going on that Leon felt you should be concerned about, he would tell you. He cares about you and wouldn’t want you to worry!”

Hiki stared at the ground as they continued walking, not fully convinced, but she nodded anyway as they entered the Gym.

“Ah, Miss Oleana? We have something for Leon,” Raihan said to the secretary, who was standing next to the elevator.

“The Champion?” she asked, looking over to Hiki. This was his girlfriend, wasn’t it? “He’s awfully busy at the moment, can this not wait?”

“I wanted to surprise him for lunch today, but I know he’s not able to take a break right now, so… if you could just give this to him, I’d be really grateful.” She handed Oleana a small box full of homemade food.

The woman sighed and gave her a nod. “Understood. I’ll see that this gets down to him.”

\---

“Leon, you’ve been working more than usual lately,” Hiki said on a video call with her boyfriend later that night. She was sitting alone in their shared apartment in Wyndon and was starting to worry about him. After hearing the rumors about what was going on with Rose, she felt she had even more of a reason to worry. “Are you sure Rose can’t give you just  _ one _ day off? You need some time to rest…” 

“I’m sorry, Love. Ever since he disqualified challenger Bede from the Gym Challenge, I’ve had a lot more work on my plate. Apparently, he was doing some part time work for him on the side.”  _ Or something like that. _ It wasn’t like he was completely lying to her. Bede took care of finding most of the Wishing Stars Rose needed for his… project. Now that he was out of the picture, a lot of that was being put on Leon, himself. As much as he didn’t agree with Rose’s way of saving their region’s future, he knew that it could hurt his career to disobey the man. 

Though, even if it brought on a much heavier workload for him, there was a bit of an unspoken sense of relief Leon felt having Bede out of the Gym Challenge after hearing from Gloria how he had been treating Hop… In his mind, it could have very well been considered bullying and should have been enough to disqualify him in the first place. But if Leon were to try to do anything about it, it could have been seen as the Champion showing favoritism, which in turn could have made things even more difficult for Hop.

“And you’re absolutely sure there isn’t anything I can do to help?” There was a part of her that wanted to get in there to see what was going on, just to make sure he wasn’t in any sort of trouble. “I have a lot of free time… Getting a job within the League might not be so bad. Especially if that means spending more time with--”  
“No! I, uh, already asked him and he… said no.” Okay, _that_ one was a lie. There was no way he wanted Hiki anywhere near this side of his job as champion. Rose’s experiments lately were highly dangerous. He couldn’t forgive himself if she got hurt because of this mess. “I promise I’ll be just fine. Things won’t be like this for much longer.” The Champion Cup was coming up soon, which meant that he would be free to focus on it instead of searching for Wishing Stars and chasing down rogue Dynamaxed Pokemon.

“I sure hope you’re right…” Hiki sighed with disappointment, which only made Leon’s heart feel like it could break. He hated seeing her so down.

“Hey… I didn’t get the chance to thank you for lunch today. It was the best meal I’ve had all week!” he said, trying to brighten her mood a little.

“Oh come on, you’re just saying that. I know what kind of lunches the League serves you.”

“No, I mean it! Sure, League food is great, but none of it is made with the same love you put into it. And the note you left truly brightened my day!” he responded.

A smile creeped it’s way onto her face. “I’m really glad to hear that…”

He offered her a big smile in return. “I’m sorry to cut this call short, but there’s still a lot I need to get done before I can come home.”

“I’ll try to stay up to see you when you get home tonight. I really miss you.”

“I miss you, too. I’ll try not to be too late.”

After they said their goodbyes, Hiki tapped the “End Call” button on her Rotom Phone and sat there staring at the device in silence for a few moments before tossing it across the room out of frustration. It wasn’t  _ him _ she was mad at… She knew he couldn’t help it and would change things if he could, but it was hard not to let it get to her.

When she threw the phone, she somehow accidentally initiated a video call with her friend Cerise, who was living in Johto, where it happened to be the middle of the night. Unaware of this mistake, she answered the call with a yawn. “Hey, what’s up-- uh, Hiki?” What she saw on the other end of the call was the girl sitting on the bed, wiping a tear from her eye. “Are you crying? And… why are you so far away from your phone?”

Hearing her friend’s voice startled her and she quickly scrambled to pick her phone back up. “Oh, uh, sorry… I didn’t mean to wake you. I must’ve hit the call button by mistake.” How embarrassing… Of course it would happen now of all times. “It’s just been a bad night, Ceri. Don’t worry about me! I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“Hey, it's fine! Tell me what’s bothering you!” Cerise told her.

“Lee has been extra busy lately and is almost never home. The League Chairman is overworking him! I even suggested trying to let me help out, but I can’t even do that…” Hiki slumped down into the bed with a pout on her face. “This much running around with little rest… it’s harmful to his health. But that’s not even the worst part.”

"There's something worse??" 

Hiki nodded. "Today I heard a rumor that the Chairman has been experimenting with a really powerful Pokemon… and that Leon's been assisting him. I didn't want to believe that he would be involved in something dangerous like that, but there was an incident today where a bunch of Pokemon randomly started Dynamaxing which might be connected to that rumor and he was there taking care of it the moment it happened…"

"That sounds dangerous…" Her friend tilted her head to the side, concern in her voice. "Have you tried asking him about it?"

"I haven't had the chance… I didn't want to ask him over the phone while he was still over there. I just don't understand why he would keep something like that a secret from me…" 

"If it is true, I'm sure he has his reasons! I haven't met him in person, but from what you've told me, I can't see him lying to you without a good reason!" Cerise replied, sounding a little more optimistic, hoping it would lift her spirits. As she said this, another yawn escaped her.

"I guess you're right… I  _ do _ trust him! I'm just worried…" Hearing her yawn made her chuckle slightly. "You should get some rest! Thank you for talking with me tonight. It was a big help!"


	17. Chapter 17

The Pokemon League Tournament had finally come. Gloria was quickly winning her way through each of her matches, even defeating Hop in the process. Hiki felt pretty bad for him, knowing the sting she felt losing her own Tournament the year she did her Gym Challenge, but it seemed he took the loss a lot better than she had all those years ago! He was happy for his friend!

When the Finals match ended, Hiki made her way down to the Stadium Lobby to meet up with Leon, so they could greet Hop and Gloria. As usual a crowd gathered around him, all wanting him to autograph their copies of his League Card or take pictures. Hiki watched as he happily ate up all the attention he was receiving and giggled. 

Hop and Gloria came in just as the crowd around them was settling, their eyes on the girl who could potentially be their next Champion. Leon smiled brightly as the challenger and his little brother approached him. “That was incredible. Brilliant. Honestly… there were even tears rolling down my face before I knew it!” Even if Hop had lost, he was happy to see that at least one of the trainers he had endorsed made it this far. It made him proud! “To think that the two of you set out together from the same town, built up the greatest teams, and arrived here at this point to throw everything you had at one another… That burning desire to win… Those moves filled with undefeatable passion! It was battling at its very purest, in every possible way! Even though there were some Trainers who weren’t sure whether you were fit to be endorsed for the Gym Challenge at first…”

“That was you, Lee!” Hop remarked.

Hiki laughed and lightly nudged Leon with her elbow in response.

“Well, all the more reason!” he said, laughing along with Hiki. “My team members and I will give everything that we’ve got in us to defeat our challenger. And that challenger may very well end up being you, Gloria. In fact, that’s precisely what I’m hoping for!”

“That’s right, Glor! The real challenge is what’s coming next,” Hop told her as he stretched. “And I’m completely exhausted! I just want to head back to the hotel and rest.”

“Best to refill your stores first!” Leon said as he put an arm around Hiki. “Why don’t we all go get some dinner together?”

Hop placed his hands on the back of his head. “I wouldn’t say no, but… you never care at all what food tastes like, Lee! A night like this deserves more than rubbish takeaway, so at least pick something good!” he said, referring to how often his older brother would usually go out for a meal somewhere quick and easy while he would be busy with his Champion duties.

“I agree!” Hiki responded. “I think we should go somewhere nice to celebrate Gloria’s accomplishments today!”

\---

After making plans for dinner, Hiki and Leon returned to their apartment to freshen up, while Hop and Gloria went back to the hotel to do the same. While Hiki was in the bathroom doing her hair, she overheard Leon answering a phone call and peaked her head out the door.

“Wait… right now?? Can’t it wait until later this evening? I have dinner plans with-- ...yes. I know… I understand.” Leon sighed and scratched the back of his head, seeming a little stressed, which only made Hiki worry. “Alright, I’m on my way…”

Hiki left the bathroom and met him in the living room with a look on her face that showed a mix of concern and disappointment. “Everything okay, Lee…?” She reached forward and gently took both of his hands into hers.

Not wanting to make her worry, Leon put on a smile and squeezed her hands. “Everything is fine! Something just… came up that I need to take care of really quick.”

The bluenette tilted her head to the side, not entirely convinced that things were okay. While his fanbase may not be able to tell when he was forcing a smile, she could. The sides of his mouth would always twitch slightly. “But what about dinner?”

He kissed the top of her head, then threw his cape back on. “We’re still going! Just wait here. I’ll come back to pick you up and we will meet them at the hotel.” And with that… he was out the door, leaving Hiki to just stand there, confused.

“...okay. Love you,” she said in the empty apartment.

\---

Several hours later, after many attempts to try and contact Leon, Hiki called Hop’s phone to see if he had gone to the hotel to get them first. However, as it turned out, Hop and Gloria learned from Piers that Leon was up in Rose Tower with the Chairman, and that Oleana made a big deal out of letting them go to see him. The secretary ordered members of the League staff to distract the young trainers and keep them from obtaining a card to take the monorail to the Tower.

It all sounded awfully suspicious to Hiki… And it only fueled her worries further. Could this have anything to do with those rumors she heard a few weeks before?

She met Hop, Gloria, Piers, and his younger sister Marnie at the entrance of the Tower. Piers, Marnie, and the members of their gym, who went by Team Yell, kept watch outside while Hiki went inside with Hop and Gloria. 

Once they made it to the giant dome at the top of the Tower, Oleana stood waiting for them. She must have expected them to show up. Far behind her, Hiki happened to spot Leon and Chairman Rose who seemed to be having a discussion of some sort. 

While the secretary was distracted by Gloria, Hiki quietly slipped away to try and find out what was going on between them. Though, when she heard the way the woman was yelling at the younger trainers, she almost had half a mind to go back and deal with her, herself… but she knew Hop and Gloria could more than handle her on their own.

Thankfully the two men had their backs to her and didn’t see her coming closer, as she really didn’t have anywhere to hide. But she listened carefully to what they were saying, hoping it would reassure any worries she was having lately… even if Oleana’s reaction to them being there almost confirmed it all to her right there. How the two of them weren’t alarmed by the battle going on behind them was beyond her.

“Leon. We’ve discussed this a hundred times already,” Hiki heard Rose say. “And still you fail to understand what’s at stake? You, who is supposed to be our Champion…”

“I think I understand well enough,” Leon responded, surprisingly sounding a little frustrated. “What I don’t understand is why we ought to cancel tomorrow’s tournament in order to solve a problem that’s a thousand years away from affecting any of us! What difference is one day going to make?”

Rose wanted to cancel the tournament? But that didn’t make any sense… It sounded like it was because of that future energy crisis she heard him mention before, but what did it have to do with the tournament? Leon was right! Couldn’t they just worry about it afterward? 

“My duty as Champion isn’t this… this madness! It’s to carry out that Championship Match!” Leon continued. “That’s what Galar wants, and what I want! It’s what we’ve all been looking forward to for so long!”

“No, you don’t understand… You still don’t understand a thing!” Rose said in response, seeming a little angry with him. He gestured out the large window to the city below them. “Look around us, Leon! Look at the Galar Region stretched out before us! And know that the energy required to keep this brilliant, glittering world alive will be exhausted a millennium from now! The people of Galar today will no longer even exist. What Galar wants today hardly matters! The future is more important than just one day! We must act as quickly as we possibly can! We must take action in order to avert tragedy! So that all can look forward to a better future!”

None of this was making any sense to Hiki. She understood wanting to provide the region with a better future, but if this wasn’t going to affect anyone currently living in the Galar Region… why was he so focused on taking care of it now? It was all giving the girl a headache…

“In a thousand years!” Leon exclaimed. “Fine. Look. I think I understand your concerns, Chairman. And I give my word, I’ll help you with your plans… just as soon as tomorrow’s match is over.”

A pang of anxiety hit Hiki upon hearing these words. Did that mean he really has been involved in Rose’s rumored experimenting? Couldn’t he get into a lot of trouble for something like that??

Just then, she heard Hop and Gloria coming toward them.

“Lee…” Hop started, causing Rose and Leon to turn around to face them all. “You never showed when you were supposed to, so I got worried that something had happened… Hiki, Piers, and Marnie, and all those Team Yell oddballs, they helped us out to get here…”

As Rose took a step closer to them, Leon happened to notice the glare Hiki was giving the Chairman. He knew she already wasn’t very fond of the man… but did she hear any of what they were saying?

“I must apologize to you, Hop, if we’ve made you worry at all,” the Chairman said. “There are times when adults just can’t seem to have an honest discussion with one another. Sometimes our pride gets in the way.”

“Never mind any of this, you three. Let’s head back to the hotel and we’ll all grab dinner together, yeah? It’s on me, so you can order whatever you fancy,” Leon interrupted. There was no reason to get any of them involved in the discussion, especially since he knew that Rose would try to persuade them on what he was trying to accomplish. He glanced over at Hiki, who still seemed upset then looked over at Rose. He had had enough of this for one night. He was supposed to be out celebrating with his family and friends. He couldn’t keep allowing him to keep him from spending time with his loved ones over something so silly. “If you’ll excuse us, Chairman Rose… And I do hope you’ll watch tomorrow’s match. It’s sure to be one for the history books.”

He stepped away from the man and put his arm around Hiki as the four of them left the Tower. “I’m so sorry…” he whispered to her. “I’ll explain later, I promise…”

As the trainers left, Rose stepped back to face the window, “One for the history books… You still don’t understand, young Champion… We… No, I am going to change the course of history!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy... here it comes!  
> So the following chapters are ones I wrote quite some time ago, so I am excited to finally get them published! Let me know your thoughts!


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, while Gloria was battling her way through the Champion Cup tournament, Hiki couldn’t get her mind off of everything that had happened as of late. The fact that Rose failed to show up for the tournament only made her more anxious. She had to find out what was going on… 

After Raihan lost in his match with Gloria, Hiki hopped into a Corviknight Taxi, following him home to Hammerlocke. If anyone could help her figure things out… it was him.

“C’mon, Rai! I’ve gotta find out what’s going on down there! I really think Leon could be in some sort of trouble…” Hiki told him after entering the Gym. But Raihan was already against her crazy idea of learning the truth behind Rose’s schemes.

“Sorry, Hiki. I really can’t do that. Shouldn’t you be in Wyndon right now? Leon is going to have his match with Gloria soon, and… I really think she’s going to give him a real challenge.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to push her out the door of his gym. 

“Ninetales, now!” At her command, Hiki’s Pokemon dashed behind Raihan and got the card key to the elevator from his back pocket and used an Ice Beam at his feet to keep him from following them. “I’m sorry I had to do that, but this is really important!” She and her partner Pokemon ran towards the elevator and got in before he could pull his foot out of the ice.

The gym leader groaned loudly. “Yep, Leon’s gonna kill me…”

Hiki clenched her fists at her sides. She felt really bad for going against Raihan like that. But the thought of Leon getting involved in something illegal, or worse… dangerous… She shuddered. If anything, she had to confirm she was  _ wrong _ about what was going on. But the fact that Raihan was so quick to stop her only fueled her suspicions further.

The elevator arrived at the power plant in the basement of the gym with a ding. Hiki took a deep breath and looked around before exiting. It looked like the coast was clear so she and Ninetales quietly made their way down the hallway, which opened up to a big open area on the right. That must have been where Rose was conducting his experiments.

She peered around the corner to see what looked like a giant egg. It was almost frightening… “What do you think it is..?” she asked Ninetales as she stared at it in disbelief. Rose was in there giving it some sort of energy. Whatever it was, the egg just seemed to absorb it. The ground seemed to shake the more he gave to it, which suddenly made Hiki feel very anxious. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea… “Let’s go back, Ninetales… I’ll just have to talk to Le--”

The moment she turned around, two men dressed in Gym Challenge official gear stood in front of her. It took everything she had not to yelp in surprise. “O-Oh no… I guess I’ve been around Leon too much. It seems I have gotten lost. How did I… get here?” she said nervously. She wasn’t exactly the best liar. The two men each grabbed her by the arm on either side and lifted her from the ground. She kicked her legs and shouted, “H-Hey! Let me go!”

Just as she started shouting, she caught the attention of both Oleana and Rose, himself. Oleana crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, shaking her head as they approached her. “I don’t know what you thought you were going to accomplish by coming here, but we’re going to have to ask you to leave. Take her away!”

“Wait!” Rose said, stopping the two who were carrying her. “If she is so curious, why don’t we let her stay and watch as I save this region’s future. Maybe then our dear Champion will change his mind and assist us this evening.” Even if she wasn’t so close to the Champion, he couldn’t allow someone to run off and spread the word on what he was about to do. But their relationship could surely work to his advantage.

“Wait, wha--Uhhh??” Before she could question what he meant about Leon, the two men who were holding onto her, carried her, following behind as Rose got back to work. “You know… I think I’ve seen plenty really! I’m supposed to be on a Corviknight Taxi on my way to Wyndon right about now. I’m sure you already know, but Leon has a very important match today and I can’t miss it!”

Not one person responded to what she had to say. Instead, they kept their attention on the egg, which was starting to shake more furiously. Panic was starting to set in. That thing was about to hatch… She had to get out of there! “Ninetales, help!”

Her Ninetales ran toward them, but a Pokeball was thrown her way. It was Oleana’s Garbodor, who blocked Ninetales’s way. “I wouldn’t, if I were you,” Oleana warned the Pokemon. “It’s a Fairy-type against a Poison-type. You don’t stand a chance.”

This was bad. Hiki had no idea the kind of trouble she was going to be getting herself into. She was running out of ideas. If only she would have just listened to Raihan… Maybe he went to get help! He should have been free of the ice by then.

“Here it is! Eternatus!” Rose called out, interrupting her thoughts. A loud rumbling filled the power plant as the egg broke open, revealing a terrifying sight. She had never seen a Pokemon quite like it before… Judging by its appearance, it seemed incredibly powerful. Eternatus looked just as scared as Hiki felt, confused as to why it was in such a place. “Turn on the machine,” he told one of his workers.

Using energy that had been gathered in the power plant, an electrical beam was fired toward Eternatus, with the intention of bringing it to submission. However, this only enraged the Pokemon and it fought back, first attacking the one who fired the beam at it. Hiki flinched, worried that she may end up struck by one of its attacks. Why would Rose try to mess with such a strong Pokemon? Was there really something it could do to solve an energy crisis so far in the future?

“Sir, I’m worried we may be a little underprepared to contain this thing,” Oleana said, starting to worry that they had gone just a little too far. 

“You see? This is exactly why I required Leon to be here. He is the only trainer in this region strong enough to capture this thing,” Rose responded, sounding eerily calm.

“You want Leon to battle that thing?? But he could get hurt!” Hiki cried out. Unfortunately the Pokemon didn’t seem against attacking people… though being brought into such a hostile environment, she didn’t  _ entirely _ blame it.

“It’s his duty as Champion to protect our beloved Galar region, is it not?”

“Y-Yeah, but… this is far too much for one person to handle!” And with how much Leon had been overworked lately, Hiki knew he wouldn’t be at his strongest, either. “Isn’t there any other way??”

Her question went unanswered as Eternatus emitted a strange energy and Oleana’s Garbodor Dynamaxed without warning and went into a furious ramage. It fired off a multitude of poisonous attacks, one of which struck Ninetales with a critical hit. The men who had ahold of Hiki practically dropped her out of shock and she hit the ground with a thud. Eternatus broke out of the power plant, with Garbodor following behind it to escape. Oleana and the other two chased after Garbodor, but still, Rose remained calm.

Through the chaos, Hiki crawled to her Pokemon to care for it. “Ninetales, are you okay? Come on, you have to get up! We need to get out of here!” Hiki stood and reached into her bag to find Ninetales’s Pokeball. She would just have to go back into her ball. “Okay, there’s no time, let’s just-- Hey!!”

“You’re staying right here,” Rose said angrily as he grabbed her by the wrist. He snatched the ball from her hand and shoved her back to the ground with her weakened Pokemon. He tossed Ninetales’s Pokeball away from them and pulled out his Rotom Phone, which floated in the air in front of him. “Leon’s match with Gloria should be starting right about now. I think it’s time we call for ‘help.’ With you here, that Champion will come running like a knight in shining armor coming to rescue a princess from a dragon!” The man adjusted his tie and started recording a broadcast to be played on the screen in Wyndon Stadium. 

\---

Leon stared down at his phone just before heading out onto the battlefield. He hadn’t heard from Hiki in quite a while, which was unusual. Should he be worried? He sighed and shoved the device into his pocket.

Cheers erupted in the stadium as Leon and Gloria took their places to start their battle. Leon scanned the crowd for Hiki, but couldn’t spot her anywhere. Maybe she was just running late. Just as they were about to throw out their first Pokemon, the crowd all began shouting at them to look at the screen. There, they saw Rose’s face and Leon immediately cringed. Was he really so set on doing this right now that he would interrupt their match to make a point?

"Hello there, Leon and Gloria! Just letting you know… I think it’s time I brought about the Darkest Day. For the sake of Galar’s future, of course! But I’m in a bit of a pickle. The energy released by the Darkest Day is too much for us to contain. I’m sorry it’s come to this. But it’s you who forced my hand, Leon. You refused to listen!" He then turned the camera on Hiki and Ninetales. “A friend of yours decided to drop by to lend a hand, but it seems her Pokemon was hurt. You may want to hurry if you don’t want to endanger their lives.”

“Hiki…” Leon’s heart immediately dropped to his stomach. What was she doing there?? How did she get there?? Suddenly a beam of light burst out of the ground on the battlefield and his thoughts were cut short. He and Gloria rushed to safety, where they met up with his brother, Hop.

“Lee! Gloria!” Hop shouted as he ran toward them. “That video stream… That was from Hammerlocke Stadium, right? What in the world did the chairman do…? And why was Hiki there?!”

“I don’t know!” Leon responded, worry very strong in his voice. “But everything he was saying yesterday… Did he really pull this crazy stunt to solve some problem a thousand years in the future?! I’ve got to go see what’s going on… I’m the Champion! I have to go!” He sighed and shook his head. “I should’ve realized what the chairman intended to do before it came to this…”

Leon rubbed his forehead, feeling stressed. “And to think Hiki got dragged into all of this because I wouldn’t tell her what was going on. It’s too dangerous for her to be there! I’ll take responsibility now for fixing this mess! This is a real Champion time!”

As he ran off, Hop called out behind him, “But, Lee! You’re terrible at directions… What if you get lost along the way?”

\---

Hiki sat on the ground next to her Ninetales and stroked her head in her lap. The poison was quickly draining her energy and she didn’t have any kind of medicine or berry to cure her. All around them, the building was shaking, with Eternatus raging on the rooftop. Just knowing Leon was heading that way to fight it had her both relieved and terrified at the same time. She knew she would feel safer with him there, but she also worried for his safety.

“You know, if Leon would have just listened to me in the first place, you wouldn’t be in this position,” Rose told her, with his back to her. He stood at the entrance of the power plant, waiting for Leon’s arrival.

She couldn’t believe he was trying to throw blame at Leon for her own stupid decision to stick her nose in something she shouldn’t have. On top of that  _ he _ was the one forcing her to stay there… like she was some sort of hostage or something. Leon had nothing to do with any of that, but he was probably very angry with her if anything. “That’s not true! I did this to myself… If I wasn’t so weak, I could have gotten out of here by now.” The sound of a Charizard’s cry quickly broke her out of her moment of self pity. She gasped, holding back from just jumping up and running in that direction since Ninetales was resting in her lap. “Lee?! Is that you?”

Rose, his back still facing her, put up a hand, signaling her to stay put. He walked out to the elevator, where he met a very angry Champion. His Charizard growled at the sight of the man walking toward him, but Leon placed a hand on the Pokemon to calm it. “Let Hiki go, Rose… This isn’t funny!”

“You’re right, it’s actually quite serious. I didn’t ask much of you and now look at the situation we’re in,” the chairman responded. “I’ll tell you what… You capture Eternatus and bring it back to me, and she will be free to leave with you.”

Leon clenched a fist at his side. “Fine. But nothing had better happen to her.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pecha berry. “Just make sure she gets this!”

As Leon rushed to the other elevator that would take him to the rooftop, Rose returned to the power plant where Hiki remained with her Pokemon. Without a word, he tossed the berry to Hiki, who had heard the whole thing. She was extremely grateful Leon had come prepared with something to take care of Ninetales. She fed the berry to her poisoned Pokemon and calmly pet her head as she started regaining her strength. 

If only she could be up there helping him… But there was no way she could get past Rose. She knew his Pokemon were far stronger than her own. Ninetales finally sat up next to her and nuzzled her trainer’s face, hoping to provide her the same comfort she had been giving her while she was poisoned. “Niii…”

Before long, Hiki heard more footsteps approaching the power plant. Why would anyone else try to come down this way? Ninetales stood to guard her trainer, though she had a low amount of health. However, both were pleasantly surprised to see that their new visitors were Gloria and Leon’s younger brother, Hop.

Gloria stood before Rose, her Pokeball in hand. It looked like she was ready to battle him. “And what do you plan on doing, Gym Challenger?” Rose asked her.

“We’re here to help the Champion,” she responded.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that. The Champion is the one who needs to control Eternatus." He rubbed his forehead and sighed in annoyance. "Must I explain myself? From your perspective, I suppose it must seem that I am doing something terrible. I don’t expect you to understand. But I must provide the Galar region with limitless energy to ensure everlasting prosperity. It is my purpose, my duty, my destiny!"

He continued. "That’s why we’ve been giving the Wishing Stars to Eternatus! Surely you remember the red light that caused a ruckus around Hammerlocke. That was all part of our experiments to awaken Eternatus! You must understand. I can’t let you interfere with my plan to protect the future of Galar!" He sent out his first Pokemon, an Escavalier, to battle her.

As the two began their battle, Hop ran to Hiki’s side. “Hey, are you okay? Lee is pretty worried about you.”

“I’m okay, but we have to help him… I know he’s strong, but that Pokemon is too powerful for just one person to take on,” Hiki started as she snuck behind Rose to finally take Ninetales’s ball back. “But Ninetales was pretty hurt by Oleana’s Garbodor. I don’t think she can fight…” 

“Here, let me help.” Hop reached into his bag and pulled out a Full Restore and sprayed it on the Ninetales. “Let’s get you out of here so you can help my brother! I’ll wait for Gloria down here!”

“Thank you, Hop. You know… You really remind me of Leon when we were your age!” She returned Ninetales to her ball and followed behind the younger trainer, sneaking past Rose now that he was distracted. When they reached the elevator, she gave him a quick hug. “Be careful… He’s really determined to take care of this whole energy crisis, and I’m not sure just how far he will go to do that…” Hiki warned. She believed in them, however. Between the two of them, they were sure to stop him.

When she reached the top of the building, she heard the sound of Leon recalling one of his Pokemon. Had it just fainted? 

He reached to his belt for his last Pokeball, which had Charizard inside. As he threw the ball to release the Pokemon, he noticed another Pokemon sent out next to him. An Alolan Ninetales? “Ninetales?!”

Hiki ran up to him and called out his name. “Leon!”

He quickly turned around, relieved to finally see she was okay. He wanted to take her into his arms and never let go, but unfortunately, there was no time for that. “Hiki! Get behind me!”

Instead, she stood next to him and took his hand. “I came to help you! I’ve seen what this thing can do and I don’t think you should be fighting it alone!”

He shook his head. “No! It’s too dangerous! You shouldn’t even be here!!” 

“I’m not leaving your side,” she said, still firmly holding his hand. 

He sighed deeply and squeezed her hand. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t have any time to argue with her. “Alright. Just stay close, okay?”

She smiled and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to make Rose a little more of a villain than he was in the games, so this was where I took things! His line about the 'knight rescuing a princess from a dragon' is something he actually said in the game, but I decided to take that and make it the theme of this chapter! That's why he more or less takes Hiki as a hostage in order to lure Leon in to catch Eternatus for him.  
> Let me know what you think!!


	19. Chapter 19

The fight went on for quite some time. Charizard was down to his last bit of health, while Hiki’s entire team had been defeated, but… they did it. Eternatus was weakened just enough for Leon to capture it. 

Hop and Gloria had finally made it to the top of the building, which meant that they had probably defeated Rose in the power plant. Hiki turned and called out to them, relieved to see them both. “You made it!”

Leon turned around to greet them as well. “You came to help me in spite of the danger? Thanks, Hop. And you too, Gloria. You two really have grown tremendously!” It was hard to admit, but he was actually thankful for all the help he was receiving. The good news was it was almost over. “But no need for you kids to worry. It seems like some power of Eternatus’s was keeping my team from Dynamaxing, but… we’ve had a Champion time all the same.” He still held Hiki’s hand tightly. “My champion team members and Hiki’s Pokemon have really worn Eternatus down. Now if I can simply catch it in a Pokeball, we should be able to get this madness under control. Then everything will be back to normal.” At least he hoped that was the case… But he kept on a brave face for the two young trainers and Hiki. 

He looked down to the ball in his hand. All he had with him were regular Pokeballs that he carried with him to help new trainers learn how to catch Pokemon at the start of their journey. In this rush to make sure Hiki was okay and take care of the danger, he never thought to stop and get something a little more powerful. But he had to try, anyway. It was his duty to protect everyone at any cost! “So watch this! It’s going to be a real champion catch!” He tossed the ball at Eternatus as it cried out. 

Hiki gasped as the Pokemon was absorbed into the ball. Hop jumped up and down with excitement, but… Leon put out his hand, his eyes widening. Something wasn’t right. He looked over to his Charizard, who knew exactly what to do. The ball burst open, completely shattering on the spot and sent a powerful blast their way. Charizard flew to Hop and Gloria, using his body and wings to protect them from the blast. Leon jumped in front of Hiki and wrapped his arms around her tightly, attempting to shield her with his body. But unfortunately, the two were sent to the ground.

Hiki groaned as she tried to sit up, needing to slide herself out from underneath Leon’s body. But that was when she noticed… he had been knocked unconscious! “Leon?!” she shouted, starting to panic. She placed her hands on his face. “Hey… You gotta wake up! Please!”

Eternatus roared loudly, the beast much angrier than it was before. Hop looked over at his brother and Hiki, and back to Charizard and nodded. The large lizard flew over to the couple and landed next to them. “You two need to get out of here! Get Lee to the hospital! Gloria and I will handle the rest!”

Tears were streaming down Hiki’s face. She really didn’t know what to do. Did she do as Hop said and leave? Or stay and help the younger trainers? What was the right thing to do?? How did Leon constantly act under pressure like this? So many questions were swirling through her mind. 

Charizard made a grunt and nudged her cheek with his nose. It was clear he was worried about his trainer, but there was something else she could read in his eyes. It seemed as if he believed in Hop and Gloria… She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face and nodded. “Okay, let’s get him out of here.” Charizard lowered his body to the ground to make it easier for Hiki to get Leon on his back. Once he was up there, she stood up, feeling an intense surge of pain in her right ankle and crouched back down to the ground. “Aah--!” She must have twisted it when they fell…

This was a disaster… And she couldn’t help but feel like a lot of it was her fault. Leon got hurt trying to save her. That was something she was never going to forgive herself for. She stood back up and winced at the pain and hopped up on Charizard’s back. As they started to fly away, Hiki looked back at Hop and Gloria just in time to see two wolf-like Pokemon join them in battle. What were they? Before she was able to find out, Charizard swooped down in front of Hammerlocke Stadium, where Raihan stood keeping watch. To keep everyone in his town safe, he made sure no one else was able to get into the gym.

When he saw the Pokemon flying toward him, he ran to meet them halfway. “Hiki, what happened??”

“Leon got knocked out by Eternatus! We need to get him to a hospital! Where is the nearest one??” Hiki responded. 

He looked back to the entrance of his gym. By now everyone should have been warned of the danger. If he left for just a moment, everything should be okay. “Follow me!” He let out his Flygon from its Pokeball and hopped on its back to lead them to the hospital.

\---

They made it to the lobby and got Leon on a stretcher and the nurses took him away. Hiki stepped off of Charizard’s back and put him back in his Pokeball for Leon. She limped over to Raihan to thank him and he noticed the way she was moving immediately. “I think we should probably get you checked in, too, Hiki…”

“I’m fine, Rai… We got Leon here and that’s all that matters. I just really hope he will be okay.” She stared down at the ground as she said this, tears filling her eyes again. “This is all my fault… Listen, I’m really sorry for what I did to you earlier. I really didn’t think things were going to end up  _ this  _ serious.” She sniffled. “And then he got hurt trying to protect me, and… and…”

Raihan sighed and pulled Hiki into a hug, just letting her cry into him. “Hey, it’s alright. I’m not mad at you. I know Leon isn’t either.” He rubbed her back as he spoke to her. “None of this is your fault. Even if you hadn’t been there, Rose still would have interrupted the Champion Match to get Leon to capture Eternatus for him. He still would have ended up fighting it. At least with you there, he wasn’t fighting it alone, and I know that probably meant the world to him.”

Hearing that last part, made her feel a lot better. “Do you think he will be okay?”

“Probably. You really think the Undefeated Champion Leon could actually go down this easily? Just give him some time, and I’m sure he will bounce back real soon.” He pulled away from their hug and glanced down at her swollen ankle. “Now, I think it’s time I repay you for icing my foot earlier. We need to get some on yours.” Knowing she would probably protest again, he lifted her up with one arm and practically threw her over his shoulder and took her to the front desk to get her checked in. She yelled and hit his back with her fists a few times, but ultimately gave in, knowing he was only doing this because he cared.

\---

Hiki's injury was taken care of relatively quickly. They wrapped her ankle and foot in bandages and gave her a crutch to use when she walked. They didn't require her to stay over night for an injury like that, so after she was done, she went back out to the lobby to meet up with Raihan once again.

When she asked if he had heard anything about Leon while she was gone, he informed her that he just had some minor injuries to his head and a few other areas on his body, and that he would recover with some rest.

She breathed a huge sigh of relief and sunk into her chair. "Thank goodness… I wonder if they would let me see him."

"I'm sure they will, but before you go, you have to see this!" He held his phone out to her and showed her a news article he had found. According to it, Hop and Gloria not only defeated, but captured Eternatus, and Rose had turned himself into the police. Everything was going to be okay…

"That's amazing… I knew they could do it! Leon will be so proud…" She smiled softly, feeling proud, herself. She had known Hop for just about his whole life. It was so nice to see how much he had grown over the years.

"You bet he will! Now come on, let's get you to his room." Raihan stood and held out his hand to help her up. Even if he wasn't staying, he still wanted to help her to Leon's room before he left. 

When they arrived at his room, she discovered he was asleep. The nurses told her and Raihan on their way in that he came to a little earlier and they filled him in on everything that happened. 

She placed Charizard's Pokeball on the nightstand next to his bed and stared down at the sleeping champ. He had to be exhausted… Between everything that had happened that night and all the stress he had been under recently, she didn't blame him. She could only hope that since Rose turned himself in to the police, that his work life would be a little different. There were bandages wrapped around his head, and a few on his arms. What kind of boss did that man think he was… putting Leon in that kind of danger so willingly. It made her sick.

She took a seat on the chair by the window. It was late, but she didn't want to leave his side. The chair wasn't the most comfortable thing, but she figured she would make due until morning. She took a small table and placed it in front of the chair to prop her foot on. Leon's cape was draped over the back of the chair, so she wrapped it around her shoulders like a blanket and curled up to the best of her ability to try to get some rest.

\---

In the middle of the night the Champion stirred in his sleep, slowly sitting up and rubbing his sleepy eyes. He was still very sore from the battle. As he sat up, the Pokeball on the nightstand caught his eye. How did that get there? He then turned to see Hiki curled up in his cape, sleeping in what looked to be a very uncomfortable position with the way her leg was propped up. Was she there because she was worried about him? Regardless, he couldn't allow her to stay there all night.

He quietly got out of bed and walked over to her side of the room. He carefully scooped her up in his arms, cape and all. It was a bit of a struggle with the way his body felt, but he tried to ignore the pain. 

A few steps into carrying her, however, he felt his legs almost give out. He didn't drop her, thankfully, but he did wake her. She opened her eyes just as he silently cursed himself for being so clumsy. "Leon… what are you doing? You're supposed to be resting…" she said, a sleepy tone in her voice. 

"I couldn't sleep knowing you couldn't possibly be comfortable… so I'm bringing you over here with me." He tried his best to hide the fact that he was struggling. It would only worry her more if she knew. But he was determined to bring her safely to his bed where he knew he could hold her tightly for the rest of the night.

As he placed her gently on top of the bed, she responded. "I was just fine, though. And besides, couldn't we get in trouble if the hospital staff came in and saw me in bed with you?"

He climbed into the bed next to her and pulled the covers over them both before he wrapped his arms around her once again. "We'll be fine. We have a lot of time to make up for… I've been away from you for so long and… I'm really sorry for that."

She snuggled close to him, very happy to be in his arms again. "I forgive you. It really wasn't your fault…" She sighed and looked up toward his face. "I'm so sorry for what I did today… I was reckless and probably made things a lot more difficult than they should have been. I'd understand if you were upset or disappointed in me."

He kissed her forehead, hoping to show her that wasn't the case. "I should have just been honest with you from the beginning… I was just so scared of putting you in danger, but that was exactly what happened anyway." His grip on her body tightened just a little as he thought back on what could have possibly happened to her. "I wanted to keep you as far away from Rose as possible. Once you're on his radar, it's practically impossible to get off of it. It was also why I was so hesitant to endorse Hop and his friend…"

"But you were right to do so! Because of them, we don't have to worry about him anymore!" she said. 

"Those two really have grown a lot over this year… And to think Gloria made it to battle me for the Champion title! I know the doctor said I have to stay here for the next few days, but I'm anxious to get out and battle her!" 

Hiki let out a happy hum and rested her head against his chest. She was so glad to hear him talk about the things that excited him. It had been a while since they had the time to talk like this. "She will put up a good fight for sure! But she will still be no match for my darling champion."

He chuckled, his face turning red at her compliment. "Heh, thank you for always believing in me!"

"I always will! I love you, Lee…" She closed her eyes, ready to fall back asleep, but this time in his arms.

He buried his face into her hair. "And I love you. Get some rest, okay? I'm sure we will have lots of visitors in the morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to have some fluff at the end after all of that... I hope you enjoyed this roller coaster!  
> ...  
> ...but don't think that was the only angst I have cooked up.


	20. Chapter 20

Finally the day everyone in the entire Galar Region was waiting for had finally arrived. It was time for the battle between the Pokemon League Finalist and Champion Leon, and this time without interruptions or cancelations. The stadium was packed, the Championship Battle sold out as it was every year. Though this time, the energy from the crowd seemed much different. Leon was incredibly anxious to add such an intense battle to his victorious streak.

However… this battle ended much differently than what he was used to.

For the first time in nearly 12 years, Leon had been defeated, which meant Gloria was going to be the newly crowned Champion of Galar. He was completely blown away, not only by her skills, but over the fact that he had lost. He quickly pulled his hat down over his face to cover up his disappointment and quickly put on a smile for the crowd, not wanting them to see that he was actually a little upset. The last thing he wanted was to come across as a sore loser.

He  _ was _ happy for her! He was proud of everything she had accomplished since the day he handed her that endorsement letter! But losing his title just days after failing to protect the Region he loved so much and feeling betrayed by the very man who endorsed him all those years ago… it hit hard.

But still, he felt that her hard work deserved to be recognized. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling his bright, Champion smile. “Congratulations, Gloria! You’ve beat even the unbeatable Champion— making you the new Champion of the region! You’ve become a first-rate Trainer, all right. I offer you my heartfelt congratulations!”

“And now that you’ve grown so strong, perhaps it’s time I started looking ahead myself,” he continued. “It’s time we adults started working on improving the here and now, for the sake of all that’s to come! And you, Gloria! What you ought to do now is… believe in yourself and your partner Pokémon, and keep on blasting ahead, in order to create that bright future we all hope to see!”

He turned away from her and faced the audience surrounding them. “People of Galar! Here you have it! A new legend born right before your eyes! Your Champion, Gloria! Bet you can’t wait to see what kind of future a kid with this kind of strength might bring about! I sure can’t! Let’s watch and see what she can do!” He then took her hand and held it up high as the stadium filled with cheers and applause.

\---

Once the awards ceremony ended, Hiki made her way down to the locker rooms, knowing that was exactly where she would find her boyfriend. She no longer needed her crutch, but had bandages wrapped around her ankle, as it hadn't fully healed, but it wasn't as hard to maneuver with anymore.

She made it to the door of his private room and stood in the doorway for a few moments in silence. Leon sat on a bench with his back to the door and was hunched over. While he seemed to be in good spirits after the fight while in front of the crowd, Hiki was pretty sure she knew deep down exactly how he was feeling. And seeing him like this now that he was alone, practically confirmed it for her.

She knocked on the open door lightly before letting herself in. "That sure was some fight, huh?" She took a seat next to him. With his head down, his hair covered his face so she couldn't see his expression. 

However, he took a deep breath and sat up straight, throwing on that same Champion smile he always wore, even when something was wrong. "She was great! The future of Galar couldn't be in better hands!" His mouth twitched slightly as he said this and Hiki could see right through him.

She reached out and took his hand in hers. "And how are you feeling?"

He kept his facade up in response to her question. "Absolutely fine! I've never felt better!"

"Lee…" she scolded and he sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to her.

"Alright… I feel like I've been punched in the stomach." He shook his head, trying not to let himself get emotional again. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him cry… it was embarrassing. "I just never thought this day would actually come, you know? I can't believe I lost…"

Hiki squeezed his hand, thankful that he was being honest with her. "I was pretty shocked with the results myself, but we already knew she was a great trainer!"

"Mm…" He nodded and stared down at the floor. "I feel like I've let you and all of Galar down."

"Hey, you could never let me down!” She rested her head on his shoulder and traced circles with her thumb on his hand. “You fought your hardest out there and I couldn’t be prouder!”

Another sigh… that was the only response he gave.

Hiki sat back up and stared at him with a concerned look on her face. He was  _ really _ taking this hard wasn’t he? Though… with how much he had been through over the past week, she was surprised this hadn’t actually broken him.

But what she didn’t know, was that it actually had.

He closed his eyes for a moment before standing, his hand slipping out of hers.

“Leon…”

The defeated Champion knew that the best thing for him now was to be somewhere he could get his mind off of everything that had happened over the last few days. The only issue, however, was that he didn’t like Hiki seeing him in such a low state, so he decided it may be for the best that he went on his own. He couldn’t even look at her as he spoke. Her reaction would only change his mind, and he knew he needed this. “Hiki… I think I need to get away for a little while.”

“Oh! Like a vacation?” She stood with him so she could see his face again, but… he turned his head. “Where should we go?”

He flinched, hesitating for a moment before continuing. “No, Love… I need to get away… by myself.”

“Oh…” Her heart sank. She did not see that coming. “Right… um, I understand. If that’s what you need to do to make yourself happy right now, then I’m not going to stop you.” She bit her lip, wanting to hold back her tears, though unlike him she wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions. Hiki knew it wouldn’t be fair to hold him back. After all, she went away for a whole  _ 6 years. _

“...Sorry,” he tells her before turning around and leaving the locker room. He couldn’t look back at her… He knew if he saw her tears, he would give in and take her in his arms, forgetting all about his plans.

But he just… couldn’t do that. All of the recent events were starting to overwhelm him. What went on with Rose… fighting and failing to catch Eternatus… not being able to protect anyone from it… losing his Champion title… it was all too much. It was something he didn’t want to burden her with. He needed to go somewhere that he could get rid of all of this stress, so he could just go back to feeling like himself again.

Hiki just stared at the ground, the tears just rolling down her face at this point. What else could she do? At this point, she felt so useless… She knew he was really hurting and she couldn’t do anything about it.

She sunk to the floor, holding her face in her hands. She felt so selfish, crying like this over him needing space. Their whole life was about to change, she knew that for sure. But what did it mean for their future? They had discussed their plans many times for what they would do once he wasn’t Champion anymore, but she didn’t expect him to want to be away from her. They always talked about taking some time to go visit her mother in Johto, or taking a break and visiting his mum for a while, spending some time with Hop… Family related things. Maybe open some kind of battle facility like the ones she told him about from her travels. It all seemed like they would just settle into a normal life after his days as Champion were over.

But all of that seemed so far out of reach… In an instant, it all seemed to shatter. Maybe it was the tone in his voice, or his choice of words… Or just the simple fact that she felt like he was pushing her away. It scared her.

A small thud broke her train of thought as her Rotom phone slipped out of her pocket and fell to the floor. She opened her eyes and stared down at the device, where a picture of the two of them was showing on her background. She sniffled and took it in her hands. Feeling hesitant, she unlocked it and went to her messaging app, then tapped Raihan’s contact.

[ **Hiki** ]:  _ Rai? Are you busy right now? _

[ **Raihan** ]:  _ Nah, what’s up? _

[ **Hiki** ]:  _ Would you please come to Lee’s locker room? It’s urgent… _

[ **Raihan** ]:  _ What? Is our Champ crying over his loss or somethin? Lol _

[ **Hiki** ]:  _...just get over here, please. _

\---

Raihan shoved his phone back into the pocket of his hoodie. Luckily he hadn’t yet left the stadium, so he wasn’t that far away. Within a matter of minutes, he was at the door of the locker room, ready to joke with Leon and try to cheer him up. However, when he walked in, he felt his stomach turn. Leon was nowhere to be seen and Hiki was sitting on the floor… her face resting against her knees. It looked like she was crying, too… What the hell happened?

He walked over to where she was sitting and slid his back down the wall until he was sitting next to her. At first, he wasn’t sure what to say. He had no idea what went down in there before he arrived, but he understood why she had claimed it was urgent.

“Okay… I’m here. What’s going on, Hiki?” he asked her, his voice calmer than usual. He hated seeing her cry. They had always been close, almost like siblings, so seeing her hurting always upset him.

Hiki wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “It’s… Leon.”

The dragon trainer tilted his head slightly. “He okay? Knowing him, I’m sure he took that loss to heart.”

“I don’t know…” She sniffled, feeling more tears welling up. “I came down here to try to cheer him up and… he just told me he needed to get away for a while, but… he wanted to be alone.” She shook her head before burying it in her arms. “And then he just left. I know I need to be supportive, but… I’m scared. He’s never acted like this before… What if he chooses not to come back?”

He just… left? “Did he say where he would be going?”

Hiki shook her head, not lifting it from her arms.

Raihan wore an angry scowl on his face after seeing her response. What in the world was that guy thinking? He understood his friend probably had a lot on his mind, but to run off and leave behind the one who cared about him the most, who always had his best interest in mind… It didn’t make any sense. He looked down at his phone, thinking about how he would have to give him a piece of his mind once he was away from Hiki.

He stood up from the ground and held out his hand to her. “Listen… I’m sure he will be back by morning. Why don’t I walk you to your apartment?” She nodded silently and took his hand while he pulled her up to her feet. 

As she stood, one of her Pokeballs popped open, releasing her Ninetales. The Pokemon understood what was going on and wanted to be able to support her trainer. She stood on the side opposite of Raihan, just in case her ankle gave her any trouble during the walk.

The Gym Leader smiled down at his friend’s Pokemon. “Thanks, Ninetales. Let’s get her home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you that the angst wasn't over! But the next chapter is very important for Hiki and her future! Enjoy!


	21. Chapter 21

It had been just under two weeks since Leon had gone off to wherever he was, and Hiki hadn’t once left their apartment, much less moved from the couch. She hadn’t even taken any of her Pokemon out of their Pokeballs, aside from Ninetales, who stayed loyally by her trainer’s side, giving her comfort in any way she could, and worried about her just as much as any of her friends had been. 

Leon leaving so suddenly really brought Hiki down and the fact that he hadn’t once called, texted her, or responded to any of her attempts at contacting him really made her fear the worst. Between thinking their relationship was over, to worrying that something bad had happened to him while he was away, her mind wouldn’t stop racing.

Just about every day, Raihan let himself into the apartment after finishing up his duties in the gym to bring her food, knowing she was hardly doing anything to take care of herself. He was the only one she was willing to let in while she was feeling the way she was, and he was thankful she trusted him enough. Of course, even with how angry he was with Leon for running off without telling anyone, he was worried just like she was, only he kept most of that inside.

Hiki was curled up in a blanket at one end of the couch when he arrived as Ninetales met him at the door. He pat the fox on the head and made his way to the living room, placing a bag of food on the coffee table in front of her. “Dinner’s here!” he told her, trying to sound somewhat cheerful. “I got your favorite, this time!” Of course, he had to call Melony to find out what that even was, but it didn’t bother him.

“Not hungry…” she mumbled before rolling over to face the back of the couch.

“Well I’m not leaving here until you eat, so unless you want me here bugging you all night, it would probably be a good idea to try anyway.”

No response.

“Alright, guess we are going to have to do this the hard way.” Without warning, he grabbed the blanket she was using and yanked it off of her.

Hiki groaned and sat up, glaring at him. “Rai, give it back, I’m cold…”

He draped the blanket over his shoulder and picked the bag of food up again. “You might warm up if you eat a hot meal, you know.”

It didn’t take much for him to talk her into doing the things she needed to do. She was completely aware that he would pester her to no end if she didn’t. She sighed and reached out her hand for him to hand her the bag and she ate quietly.

“Have you tried getting up and moving around at all today?” he asked her, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

She simply shook her head while chewing her food.

Seeing her from this angle, he noticed her eyes were puffy, which meant she had been crying again. He knew it was best if he didn’t ask about it, because that usually only made her start again. “It’s really nice out today, want to go to the Wild Area?”

“Probably not…” she responded before taking another bite.

It wasn’t a definite no. Maybe today was the day he would finally get somewhere. “Let’s not go for your sake, then. Let’s go for your Pokemon! They haven’t had any fresh air in over a week.”

That was true… She knew it wasn’t fair to keep them cooped up just because she wasn’t feeling her best. Giving him another wordless response, she nodded in agreement.

“Good,” he said with a relieved smile. “You finish eating and I’ll pack up your backpack, alright?”

\---

Any other day, Raihan would have simply flown to the Wild Area on his Flygon, but due to Hiki’s current state of mind, he knew she would be more comfortable taking a Corviknight Taxi. The entire flight, she sat in silence and stared out the window. She didn’t do a whole lot to get herself ready for this outing. She just put on a hoodie and sweats and threw her hair up in a ponytail.

She really didn’t pay much attention to where in the Wild Area they had gone. She was here to let her Pokemon run around and that was it. Raihan was thoughtful enough to bring her to an area that had a lake, so her Lapras could swim around. Hiki sat in the grass, holding her knees close to her chest as she watched her Pokemon play with some of Raihan’s. All but one, that is. Her Ninetales stayed right by her side, even when Raihan reassured her that she could go off and play too, that he would keep an eye on Hiki for her, but the Pokemon sat still.

“Alright… How about I try to find us some ingredients to make curry?” Knowing Hiki would probably try to push back about not wanting to eat, he continued. “Ya know, for the Pokemon.”

Hiki shrugged. “I’m sure they would be happy if you did.” She actually didn’t seem to have as much of a negative attitude when she spoke. He wondered if getting out of that apartment and giving her a change in atmosphere was really what she needed.

“Then I’ll be back. If you need me for anything, just call, okay? I won’t go far.” he told her, holding up his Rotom phone as he said this.

She nodded and went back to watching their Pokemon run and fly around, while resting against her Ninetales. Her fur was always so soft, like a cloud… She reached up and started mindlessly petting at the fur on her chest, feeling calm as she did this. Her Pokemon really seemed happy to be out and interacting with other Pokemon, so in a way, that made her feel somewhat better.

Her concentration broke, however, when she realized she heard a man shouting not too far from where she was sitting. She raised her head from where it had been resting on her Ninetales and she saw a trainer with a Sylveon… and he was yelling at it. She tried to tell herself to mind her own business, but then she saw something she couldn’t possibly ignore. From what she could understand, the trainer was upset with the Pokemon for evolving into the wrong type of Pokemon and he was trying to leave it behind. The Sylveon didn’t quite understand and tried to follow him anyway, affectionately rubbing against the man’s leg… until he kicked it and shouted at it to get out of his sight.

Without a second thought, Hiki quickly stood and ran over to the Pokemon, checking to make sure it was okay. “You poor thing… Are you hurt?” Her Ninetales had followed along and stood, guarding the Pokemon as her trainer got up and faced the man, anger and many other emotions filling her eyes. “You… You should be ashamed of yourself! That’s no way to treat a Pokemon!” she yelled, storming over to him.

“Why don’t you mind your own business, kid? This doesn’t concern you.” He turned around and stared her down. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was dressed the way she was, the man might have recognized her as the Champion… well, former Champion’s girlfriend, which may have even made a difference in how he was speaking to her, but that was not the case.

She clenched her fists at her sides, her anger growing. “It does when I see an innocent Pokemon get hurt! Especially by someone it loves!” Oh… She felt herself choke on those words. Her emotions were starting to resurface right alongside that anger. But she couldn’t let her own pain stop her from standing up for that Pokemon. “You don’t deserve to call yourself a Pokemon Trainer!”

“What did you just say?” the man responded, angrily. He raised an arm to her, catching Hiki off guard. Was he about to hit her?? But for some reason, he froze, staring behind her with a bit of a shocked expression on his face.

Just as Hiki was about to question it, she felt a hand gripping her shoulder. Startled, she looked to see Raihan behind her, looking down at the man with an intense glare that would have made even Eternatus run for the hills! Gently, he pulled Hiki to stand behind him as he dealt with this guy himself.

"You know… Pokemon aren't naturally useless. Every single one has the potential to be great." The Gym Leader stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he stepped closer to the other trainer, who recognized him, knowing very well not only his position in the League, but also his strength, and slowly backed away as he spoke. “It’s our responsibility as trainers to help our Pokemon realize that potential. So if you see one of your own Pokemon as useless, well… that just means _you’re_ a useless trainer.”

Hiki knelt back down to Sylveon, petting it gently. The trainer kicked it pretty hard before, so it was bound to have a bruise… if not worse. She was listening to everything Raihan was saying to him as she cared for the Pokemon. “He’s right, you know,” she told it, softly. “I can see you have a lot of potential. You’re not useless at all…”

Raihan continued, backing the man into a tree. “You understand how Sylveon evolve, I’m sure. It happens when an Eevee grows _affectionate_ toward their trainer. Your Pokemon evolved out of love… for you. And you were willing to just throw it away for that very reason. It’s disgusting…” He shook his head. “You know, anything that could love someone like you must be pretty strong in my opinion. Really, you don’t deserve it. Sylveon is going to be a lot better off now.” Especially in Hiki’s care. He knew her well enough to know that Pokemon already had a place in her heart.

He looked back to see Hiki holding out her hands while her Ninetales formed some ice with her breath. Hiki took that clump of ice and wrapped it in a small towel she had in her bag and placed it gently on Sylveon’s injury. “That should help. We will get you to a Pokemon Center as soon as we can, okay?”

At some point during all of the commotion, Hiki and Raihan’s Pokemon caught on to the trouble, three of them coming to Raihan’s aid. His Flygon, Goodra, and Hiki’s Dragapult were behind him, all ready to battle if they were needed, while the rest of the Pokemon were at Hiki’s side. The Pokemon were smarter than most would think. The particular group who chose to assist him knew exactly what they were doing by grouping together, and it made the Dragon Tamer proud. He chuckled, turning his attention back to the trainer, who was certainly intimidated at this point. “It’s kind of funny, you know? If that Sylveon were still at your side, you’d be the one with the upper hand.”

The man scoffed and ran off. “Oh well, good riddance,” Raihan said. He was almost certain he was going to find some article at some point, claiming he attacked some trainer in the Wild Area, even if he never would have actually allowed the Pokemon to hurt the man. That wasn’t the kind of trainer he was. But… it was worth it to see the look on his face. Raihan couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

He walked back over to Hiki and Sylveon, kneeling down to their level. “You’re going to be in much better hands now, I can promise you that. My friend here loves all Pokemon.”

Upon hearing his words, Hiki… smiled… For the first time in weeks, she actually, genuinely smiled. It was enough to bring a tear to the eye of the strongest Gym Leader in all of Galar. What a relief… 

“I think we need to get her to a Pokemon Center. We can treat all of the Pokemon to curry after we get Sylveon taken care of,” Hiki said, pulling a ball from her backpack. It was a Heal Ball. “Would… it be okay if I asked you to stay with me, Sylveon? I’d say… you and I both need each other right now.”

Sylveon rested her head in Hiki’s lap and made a sound of consent before nuzzling her face against her new trainer. Hiki gently tapped the Heal Ball on Sylveon’s head and she went inside. Usually, if a Pokemon already belonged to another trainer, it would break out of a ball owned by another, but it was clear that this Pokemon no longer accepted the other as her trainer as the ball began to shake, rather than bursting open. When the ball clicked shut, Hiki felt tears start to stream down her face as she held the object close to her.

Raihan placed his hand on her back, letting her sob. “I’m really proud of you, Hiki…” He knew he shouldn’t say this part out loud, but he wanted to tell her that he knew Leon would be too. He decided it was best to keep that to himself… though, he was sure she knew it to be true deep down. “Now come on, let’s get her to the Center.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part of the story hits really hard for me! But it really sheds some light on just how much Hiki cares for and adores all Pokemon and hates to see them mistreated. But was there some event that really made her feel this way? Guess you will have to find out in the next chapter!  
> As always thank you so much for reading this far! I'd love to hear your thoughts, so be sure to leave me some feedback!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very short but sweet update! Enjoy!

After bringing in the injured Sylveon to the Pokemon Center, Hiki and Raihan sat silently in the lobby, waiting for the nurse to finish looking over the Pokemon. The poor Sylveon was hurting pretty badly both physically and emotionally after the events that took place with her previous trainer. But now that she was going to be in Hiki’s care, she was going to be safe. Who knows what would have happened to her if Raihan hadn’t convinced her to get out of the house…

“Hey, Rai?” Hiki stared down at her feet, as she finally broke the silence between them. “Thank you…”

The dragon tamer looked over to his friend and tilted his head slightly. “Hm? Ah, it was nothing. That dude was a jerk… I’m glad we were able to get Sylveon away from him.”

“Not… just for that. You’ve really done a lot for me lately and I really haven’t taken the time to tell you how much I’ve appreciated it.”

“Hiki, you’re one of my best friends! There’s no way I’d leave you all alone in a time like this.” He sighed before continuing, knowing the next thing he was about to say could possibly be risky, as it could end up making her sad. "And even if I am pissed at him, Leon's also my friend and I know for a fact he wouldn't want you to be alone right now, either. He might have screwed up, but I do know he still cares about you…"

The bluenette stared down at her hands in her lap and she gripped her skirt tightly while he spoke. Of course she wanted to believe the last part to be true, but the longer she went without hearing from him, the harder it was for her to believe. 

Raihan took notice of her reaction and placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Listen, it's not something we have to focus on right now. I just wanted to make sure you heard it." Maybe it was a good idea for him to change the subject. "But hey… I'm super proud of you for taking care of that Sylveon today! That took a lot of courage!"

Hiki chuckled lightly, still facing down. "Yeah, but you were the one who chased her trainer off. Things probably wouldn't have gone so well if you weren't there…" Her mind flashed back to the man raising his hand to her. She couldn't believe he would be okay with not only abusing his Pokemon, but hitting an innocent stranger, too. What a cruel man…

"Hmph, he was nothing but a coward…" Raihan huffed, then looked over to her with questioning eyes. "You're going to keep it though, aren't you? She really seemed to trust you." After being treated so harshly, seeing that it would trust another human so willingly was surprising. But he could tell that Sylveon was thankful Hiki came to its rescue.

"Of course I'm going to keep her! I can't stand the idea of abandoning a Pokemon… I've seen it happen so many times throughout my travels and it makes me sick." To her, all of her Pokemon were like family. Leaving any of them behind in the way that man tried to with Sylveon was unimaginable! She didn't understand how it seemed so easy to other trainers. "If there was some way I could protect and care for Pokemon who end up being treated this way… I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd open up a Sanctuary where all Pokemon were welcome, no matter their strengths or abilities… They would all have a place to call home where they could be safe and happy!"

The Gym Leader couldn't help but smile as she spoke. "Ya know… I think you've finally found it!"

"Hm?" Hiki looked up to him in confusion. "Found what?"

"Your dream! The whole reason you left Galar all those years ago," he reminded her. "You wanted to find out the type of trainer you were meant to be and I think you just did. And it suits you!"

"You… really think so?" she asked, surprised she hadn't thought of something like this sooner. 

"Course I do! Galar really needs someone with a heart like yours! You'd be saving the lives of lots of Pokemon if you opened a place like that."

"I think I want to try!" she responded. She really wasn't sure where to start or how to make any of it happen, but it was now a goal she wanted to work toward.

As their conversation continued, the nurse who took Sylveon returned with the Pokemon at her side. "Excuse me? Your Pokemon is happy and healthy! It does seem to have a bit of bruising around her ribs, but with proper rest it should heal just fine!" Sylveon jumped up onto Hiki's lap and nuzzled her face, happy to see the human who saved it again. "She's very lucky to have found a trainer like you!"

Hiki giggled as the Pokemon licked her cheek, all of her sadness from before nearly disappearing. It was like her presence was able to calm her emotions. Maybe Sylveon wasn't the only one who was lucky they found each other!

\---

Raihan took her back home before leaving to head off to Hammerlocke. She walked back into the apartment with both her Ninetales and her newly befriended Sylveon at her sides. The silence of the apartment brought back some of her sadness, which was something both Pokemon took notice of. Sylveon knew nothing about Hiki’s current situation, but after helping her, the Pokemon wanted nothing more than to do the same for her.

Hiki wandered into the bedroom she and Leon shared. Since he had disappeared, she spent every night on the couch, but after getting out of the house for the first time in nearly two weeks, she was incredibly exhausted. The bed was far more comfortable than the couch, but at that time the thought of sleeping there all alone made her really sad… She sighed heavily deciding to take a hot shower to try and relax a bit before returning to the couch for the night.

When her shower was finished, Hiki returned to the bedroom to find something clean to wear to bed when she spotted Sylveon curled up on the bed. She wasn’t quite asleep however. As it turned out, while she was showering, Hiki’s Ninetales filled Sylveon in on what happened and how lonely Hiki was feeling, communicating the way Pokemon do with each other.

As Hiki changed into her pajamas, the Pokemon stood and pulled down the covers with her teeth and then sat back down, watching her as her tail swayed back and forth. Was she really trying to get her to sleep there? “Ah, sorry Sylveon… It’s just a little too hard for me to be there right now… I’m gonna sleep out in the living room, okay? But you’re welcome to sleep in the bed if that is where you are comfortable.”

She turned to walk back out into the living room, but noticed her Ninetales was blocking her path. Not only that, but she had the blanket Hiki had been using on the couch in her teeth. “Wha-? You too? But you know I’d rather--”

“Niii~” the Pokemon protested, then walked past her, carrying the blanket over to the bed. She jumped up with Sylveon and draped it over Hiki’s side of the bed, then jumped back down, going over to nudge Hiki toward the bed with her head.

Hiki sighed, choosing not to argue with her Pokemon and walked over to sit on the bed. Once she was there, Ninetales walked away again, this time going over to… the closet? “What are you doing?” Hiki asked with a small chuckle. However, when the Pokemon came back out, tears immediately filled Hiki’s eyes.

Ninetales returned to her side, carrying one of Leon’s hoodies to give to her. She jumped up on the bed and dropped the piece of clothing on her lap. It hadn’t been washed since the last time he wore it, so the Pokemon noticed his scent on it and thought it might help her sleep a little better if she had it with her in the bed. Hiki wiped her tears and pet the fox on the head to thank her, as her words were escaping her.

Sylveon nudged her pillow, trying to get her to lay down. With a small smile, she did as the Pokemon asked, holding the hoodie close to her chest. Sylveon curled up close behind her, while Ninetales pulled the blankets over their trainer. Once Hiki was comfortable, Ninetales jumped down to turn the light off with her paw, then jumped back up into the bed, wiggling her way under the covers with her, then nuzzled her face.

Neither of her Pokemon were going to let her feel alone anymore. They wanted to do anything they could to make their beloved trainer happy and comfortable, and Hiki knew that was their intention. She was so thankful beyond words for her special partners as she pulled the hoodie close to her face and drifted off to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

Thanks to the help of Raihan and her Pokemon, Hiki was finally starting to take better care of herself. She wasn’t as distant when friends and family called her, including Hop and Leon’s mother Rosalyn, who both checked in with her whenever they could. Of course they were worried about Leon too, but they both had faith that he would be able to take care of himself wherever he might be, and chose to dedicate their energy on Hiki.

A few days after what happened with Sylveon, Hiki was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of one of her friends from her travels, Nic. When Hiki was finally comfortable enough to open up to people other than Raihan, she called her to tell her that her boyfriend took off and disappeared. Nic was furious after hearing this news, though she kept that anger to herself as to not upset Hiki further than she already was.

After her friend arrived, Hiki took her into the living room. “Just make yourself at home, okay? I’ll go make us some tea!”

Nic was waiting patiently for Hiki to return when she heard a startling noise. It was the sound of the lock on the front door turning. She may not have met Leon in person before, but she could tell this tall man looked nothing like the pictures she had seen.

The tea was just about ready when Hiki heard a loud thump, followed by some yelling.

“Hiki!! Call the cops!!” she heard Nic yell.

“What is it!? What happened?? Are you oka--” she started as she rushed out to see what happened. When she made it out to the living room she stumbled upon an incredibly amusing scene. Nic had Raihan, who must have just arrived, pinned against the floor with his arms behind him. She couldn’t help but giggle a little. So after all this time of Raihan pestering Hiki for her friend’s phone number… this was how they would meet for the first time. “Looks like you two finally met! It’s okay, Nic… This is my friend Raihan. He’s been coming over to keep an eye on me.”

“Huh? Raihan? You mean the one who called you all the time when we were in Kalos?” She looked down at the man under her grip. Wow… it really was him! Imagine that! “Oh, my bad!” She finally got up and let him go.

“My bad?? That’s all you have to say?” the now grumpy Gym Leader responded. “You just attacked me!”

“Hey, who lets themself into someone’s house without knocking??” She rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning her attention back to Hiki. “Is the tea almost ready? I’ve always wanted to try Galar tea!”

Raihan also looked at Hiki, somewhat confused over what just happened and mouth the words  _ ‘What the heck’ _ to her. She just smiled and shrugged at him, mouthing  _ ‘Sorry!’ _ in return.

Hiki returned to the kitchen to finish making the tea, making enough for a third person now that Raihan was there. She came back, bringing the tea in a tea set designed to look like Polteageist and Sinistea, along with cute little Yamper shaped cookies.

"Sorry for the scare, Nic. I guess I should have warned you that Rai has a key to the apartment. Ever since Leon left, he's been coming over to check up on me and bring food when I need it..." she rubbed the back of her head, feeling embarrassed. It was kind of hard to admit that she had gotten to such a low point that she needed to accept that kind of help from her friend. But she was starting to do a better job at taking care of herself. After all, she did prepare the tea herself this time! "But it will be nice to have you stay over for a while! This big apartment gets a little lonely when it's just me here..."

Hiki’s Ninetales and Sylveon curled up close to their trainer, thankful that she seemed to be in better spirits that day. Ninetales was on the floor in front of her, while Sylveon rested on her lap.

\---

The three of them sat and talked for what felt like hours. There were quite a few times, however, where Nic and Raihan would get into a disagreement about one thing or another during their conversation, but after a point, things got really heated between the two to the point where they were both standing and yelling back and forth. And it was all about where they thought Hiki should go out the next day…

“I’m telling you, the Wild Area is where she would want to go! That’s where we went the other day!!” Raihan argued.

“Well I think she could use a change in atmosphere! A quiet cafe would be a perfect place to help her relax and enjoy herself!” Nic fought back.

“She loves spending time with her Pokemon! The Wild Area would be the most relaxing place there is!!”

“Some cafes let you bring your Pokemon too, you know!”

“ENOUGH!!” Hiki interrupted, and both of her friends froze and looked at her. They had never heard her sound so angry before, especially not toward either of them. “If all you two are going to do is fight, then I would much rather spend time by myself. Just…” She sighed. “Just leave… both of you…”

“Hiki… look we’re sorry, we’ll just--” Raihan started to say before Ninetales stood up and growled at him. She didn’t like how stressed they had made her trainer, and even if she appreciated what the two were really trying to do, if Hiki wanted them out, she was going to make sure they did as she asked. “...alright, fine. We will see you later,” he grumbled before heading toward the door.

Nic followed behind him, whispering, “Look what you’ve done!”

“What  _ I’ve _ done? I’m the one who has been looking after her all this time! I think I know what she needs,” Raihan said as he shut the door behind them.

When they left, Hiki sighed and slumped back into the couch, her two Pokemon returning to her side to make sure she was okay.

\---

After leaving, Raihan and Nic sat out on a bench in downtown Wyndon, trying to figure out where they should go next. Nic was supposed to be staying the night at Hiki’s, but after what just happened, she knew that wasn’t exactly an option...

Raihan looked up at the sky, a bit of concern starting to form in his face. “I wonder if it was really okay for us to leave her alone tonight…”

“What are you talking about? She’s the one who kicked us out… Clearly she needs some space,” Nic responded, not quite catching what he was getting at. At her words, he pointed up to the sky where her gaze shifted. There were some dark storm clouds beginning to form above Wyndon. But why did that seem to concern him?

“She may not talk about it much, but I know what happened with Eternatus still terrifies her. I highly doubt she’d handle a storm like this very well right now… especially not by herself,” he told her.

She turned her attention back to him, raising her eyebrow in confusion. “Eternatus?”

Surprised, he responded. “You don’t… know about Eternatus? I’m amazed she didn’t tell you… though, I guess talking about it does bring back memories she’d rather not think about.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the bench.

It was something that scared her that badly? “What happened, exactly?”

He told her everything, straight from the very beginning, starting with the research and experiments Chairman Rose had been conducting and how he roped Leon into it, even if the former Champion wasn’t exactly on board with it. He knew there were a lot of things that could go wrong if he didn’t cooperate, and he couldn’t risk any of that.

He told her how because of Leon’s work, the two of them were apart so much, even though they were living under the same roof at the time and how it really started to get to Hiki. So when she started hearing rumors about the dangerous experiments Rose was doing behind the scenes and how the Champion was involved, things really started to get messy.

Next he told her how Raihan, himself, had tried to stop her from going into the Power Plant located under his gym, but she outsmarted him, took his key, and went down anyway, where she ended up getting caught and held as a hostage to get Leon to cooperate, since at the time he was more focused on the Pokemon League Tournament than he was with helping the Chairman.

He then explained how Rose awakened a dangerous Pokemon called Eternatus and refused to let Leon take Hiki home unless he captured it for him. After Leon’s younger brother and his friend rescued her, they all went to the roof to help Leon take care of Eternatus, but it wasn’t nearly as easy as they had hoped. Both Hiki and Leon ended up injured in the fight, though Leon was far worse off than she was.

“After Leon was hospitalized, none of us saw either of them for days… Not until the tournament, at least. I was sitting with Hiki in the stands when Leon lost his first battle in over 12 years. She told me she was going to his locker room to check on him… and next thing I know, she’s texting me telling me there’s been an emergency. And when I got down there, he was gone and she was sitting on the floor crying.” He sighed and shook his head. “I really can’t say for sure, since I hadn’t actually talked to him since he got out of the hospital, but I’m sure what happened with Eternatus had traumatized him, too, since the thing just about killed him. I’m still pissed that he would leave her all alone like this, but I’m sure he’s got a lot going on in his head too…”

Nic sat silently for a few moments, taking everything he just told her in. Why would she keep something like that from her? If she had known what was going on back then, she would have come to see her much sooner. But there was something in his story that really seemed to bother her. It was the fact that Leon went through the same events and was possibly even feeling the same fear she was after it was all over. “So… what you’re telling me is… he knows exactly how she is feeling right now, and yet he  _ still _ left!?” She couldn’t help but find that cruel and selfish of him. The current sting of her own recently ended relationship wasn’t exactly helping how she viewed this situation. “Does he even care about her at all??”

“Wait, that’s not-- I mean, it’s not like he just…”  _ That _ was what she took from his story?? Another sigh escaped the Gym Leader. “I’m sure it was more than just that! Believe me, I know if he was thinking straight, he probably would have never done this… Or at the very least, would have put a little more thought into it, first. One thing I can say I know for sure is how much Leon does love Hiki. I know she’s been having her doubts lately, but I really don’t think that’s changed. I grew up with those two. I’ve never seen him look at  _ anyone  _ the way he looks at her…”

After a pause, he continued. “Look, I’m not trying to excuse what he’s done, but I can say with confidence that at the very least he didn’t do this to hurt her, intentionally. I think he’s just… lost,” he told her. It was an ironic way of putting it, however. Though he didn’t mean in the same way his friend usually got himself lost. He was referring to the stress Leon was probably feeling about not knowing what he’s supposed to do next.

Still not exactly happy with her friend’s boyfriend even after hearing all of that, Nic let out a sigh. She looked up to the sky as a bright flash of lighting lit up the sky above them. “Well, if everything you’ve just told me is true, then I agree that being alone during this storm is probably not the best thing for her right now.”

Raihan stood and nodded in agreement. “Then why don’t we head back?”

Nic tilted her head slightly. “Shouldn’t we call her and apologize first? What if she doesn’t want to let us back in after how we acted earlier?”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Knowing her, if she really is scared right now, I doubt she would answer her phone.”

“Then… what are we supposed to do?”

He winked at her. “I have a key, remember?”

\---

The storm had really picked up by the time they made it back to the apartment, and it seemed as if they made it just in time. As they approached the building, there was a loud clash of thunder and all the lights inside seemed to go out, meaning the power must have gone out…

Quickly they made their way inside, to find a frightened Hiki on her knees with her hands over her ears and her Ninetales and Sylveon trying their very hardest to console her.

“Hiki!” Nic shouted as the two of them ran over to be at her side.

Raihan put his hand on her back, unfortunately startling Hiki, who never heard them come in, but when she saw them both there, she felt so relieved that she ended up crying… “Hey, it’s alright… We’re here! Let’s get you off the floor, okay?”

They both helped her over to the couch and Nic sat with her while Raihan fumbled around the apartment to find some candles to light.

The bluenette stared down at her lap, feeling embarrassed that they had found her like that. “Thank you guys… for coming back. I’m sorry for kicking you out earlier…”

“Don’t worry about it. We're the ones who should be apologizing, not you,” Raihan responded, taking a seat in a chair across from the couch. “You okay, now?”

Sylveon hopped up onto Hiki’s lap and nuzzled her face, worried about her. She wrapped her arms around the Pokemon and hugged her close. “I think so… I just… started thinking about that night and…” She flinched, the flashbacks in her mind really getting to her.

Nic was still a little upset that Hiki had never told her that such a scary thing had happened to her, but she figured now wasn’t the time to bring that concern up. Instead she put her arm around her to give her a hug. “Maybe it’s best not to relive it…” Deciding to change the subject, she then said, “The last time we talked on the phone, you mentioned that you’ve decided to open a Pokemon Sanctuary. Why don’t you tell me more about that?”

Raihan watched the two girls talk, feeling relieved that Hiki seemed to calm down over the course of their conversation. He wasn’t sure how to explain it, but seeing someone else who cared for his friend as much as he did, really warmed his heart. It made him really happy! But of course after their not-so-pleasant introduction to each other, there was no way in hell he was going to admit that out loud to anyone. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like something good might come from all of this…

They stayed up talking for hours, long after the storm had even passed, with no more arguments surfacing between Hiki’s two friends. Some time during their chat, Hiki had fallen asleep on the couch, so Raihan offered to carry her to her room so they wouldn’t have to wake her.

Once she was settled in, he came back out to the living room where Nic was. “I’m sure she will be fine, but we should probably stay here tonight just in case anything would happen,” he told her, while keeping his voice low since Hiki was asleep. “Why don’t you go ahead and take the guest room and I’ll sleep here on the couch.”

Nic nodded and gathered her things to head back to the room for the night, but stopped on her way out of the living room. “Hey, thanks for taking such good care of her during all of this. I had no idea it was this bad, but I’m glad she hasn’t been completely alone.”

He just shrugged. “Eh, no need to thank me. Like I said, we grew up together, so she’s almost like a sister to me. It just feels right to help her when she’s feeling like this.” He rubbed the back of his head feeling a little embarrassed. “And uh… sorry for startling you when I got here before.”

She waved her hand at him in response. “It all worked out in the end, don’t worry about it. Just remember to knock next time!” she told him with a pout… before it turned into a bit of a laugh.

He chuckled a bit. “Yeah, yeah, I got it… Well, good night.”

“Night!” she responded before heading down the hall to turn in for the night.


	24. Chapter 24

The next morning, Raihan was the first to wake up and started a pot of coffee to have some to take with him to work that morning, but also to have ready for the girls when they woke up. It wasn’t long after he started making it, that he heard footsteps of one of them approaching the kitchen. When he turned around, he was greeted by Nic, who was yawning as she entered the room.

She took a seat at the kitchen table and he placed a cup down in front of her. “Morning!” he said to her.

“Oh… thank you. Good morning,” she responded, somewhat surprised by him offering her the coffee, though she wasn’t complaining!

“I’ve gotta head out for the day to check on my Gym. With the Chairman in jail and Leon missing, the upcoming Gym Challenge season is most likely going to be put on hold, but most of us Gym Leaders are doing what we can until we know what’s going to happen. Our new Champion is young, so no one expects her to know how to handle this kind of situation…” He sighed. Not only was Leon’s disappearance hurting Hiki, but it was also causing problems within the League. However, the former Champion’s friend along with his fellow Gym Leaders believed that it wasn’t entirely fair to put all the blame on Leon. If it weren’t for the Chairman’s wrong decisions, he would still be the one in charge and be perfectly capable of keeping things running even with Leon not around. In the end it was all just one big complicated mess…

“It sounds like you’ve all got a lot going on right now… It must be stressful,” she responded after taking a sip of the coffee he made.

“We’ll get through it! The worst of it is already over…” He sipped his own coffee, then looked down at the small slip of paper he left on the table before she woke up. He pushed it down closer to her. “I wrote my number down for you in case anything would happen with Hiki while I’m out for the day. Give me a call if she might need anything.”

Nic’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She took the slip of paper in her hands and gazed up at him. He really did care for their friend. Maybe he wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought…

Or at least, that’s how she thought she felt until he opened his mouth again.

“Or just call if you happen to miss my voice,” he teased, flashing a wink at her.

“Alright, alright, don’t you have a Gym to get to, mister?” she responded while rolling her eyes. Did he flirt with everyone like this?

He chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry, I’m going!” And with that he was out the door.

\---

A few weeks had passed since Nic arrived in Wyndon to spend time with Hiki. One day in particular, the girls decided to take a walk through the city and do a little window shopping… something they did together in Kalos often! Hiki was really starting to enjoy all the different outings she did with her friends to get out of the house!

At one point, Hiki noticed Nic stopping at a little outdoor booth and picking up a brochure to read. She turned around to meet back up with her friend and find out what she was looking at.

“What’cha got there?” she asked.

Nic looked up from what she was reading. “Oh! Just some information on this place I heard about recently. It’s called the Isle of Armor! Apparently a lot of skilled trainers have gone there to train themselves and their Pokemon. I thought it would be fun to go sometime!”

The Isle of Armor? Hiki was pretty sure she had heard of it before, possibly from Raihan or Leon when they were younger, but she had never been there herself. She looked over at the booth that was advertising it and noticed a sign. “It looks like they have special classes starting soon. You should go!”

“Huh? I don’t need to go right now or anything! I’m here to spend time with you, remember!”

Hiki shrugged. “You’ve been really wonderful while you’ve been here, but I’m doing a lot better now! Besides, I know you’ve been wanting to get out and train with your Pokemon again, so I would hate to keep you from an opportunity like this!”

Nic thought about it for a moment and looked back down at the brochure, then back up at the bluenette. “Why don’t you come with me? It could be a lot of fun!”

Hiki’s eyes trailed down toward the ground. It  _ did _ sound like fun, but… she would hate to be away somewhere if Leon happened to return. “That’s okay! I’m going to stay here and try to make more plans for my Sanctuary… I appreciate the offer, but you should still go and enjoy yourself!”

After taking a moment to really think it through, Nic smiled. “Alright… I’ll make plans to head out tomorrow morning!”

\---

A few nights later, things had gone back to the way they had been just after Leon disappeared, with Hiki and Raihan spending their evenings hanging out and having whatever dinner Raihan picked up on his way to her apartment from his Gym.

Hiki’s mood and overall well being had improved greatly since the first day of her boyfriend leaving and the Gym Leader was very thankful. It was nice to know that she was taking better care of herself and not letting everything that had happened get her so down. She still had her moments, and even when she didn’t tell him so, he could still sense when she was feeling sad and would do his best to find a way to cheer her up.

Hiki got up to wash the dishes after their meal, when Raihan’s Rotom phone floated up in front of him, ringing. 

“Hm?” He looked at the device to see that the one who was calling him was… Hiki’s friend Nic. Why on earth was she calling him and not her? He looked over at Hiki, who was too busy to notice, then took his phone call into the other room. “Wow… You’ve only been gone a couple of days and you’re already missing me?” he teased as he answered.

“Shut up!” she responded on the other end of the call. “That’s not what this is about. I need to talk to you about something important…”

Back in the kitchen, Hiki had just finished cleaning up. She turned around to see Raihan wasn’t at the table anymore, but could hear him talking in the other room. She assumed it must have been something relating to the League…

She crouched down to the ground where her Ninetales and Sylveon had both just finished their own meals and pet them both, happily. She was starting to feel more confident about the home made Pokemon food she made for them! Maybe it was something she could use in her Sanctuary when she was able to open it!

Suddenly, Raihan rushed back into the kitchen, startling Hiki out of her current train of thought.

“How soon can you have a bag packed??” he asked, urgently.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Hiki stood and tilted her head in confusion. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“We are going to the Isle of Armor… tonight.”

“What?? Rai… I already told Nic I think it would be best for me to stay here right now… I really don’t want to leave, just in case--”

He interrupted her. “Nic found Leon.”

Hiki gasped softly, her eyes widening. “Y… You’re lying…”

Raihan stepped forward to place his hands on her shoulders. “Hiki, after everything I’ve watched you go through lately, why would I make something like this up? He’s there… and he’s safe.”

Tears filled her eyes as she continued to stare at him in disbelief. He was really okay?? She raised her hands to cover her mouth as she started sobbing and almost instantly, Raihan pulled her in for a hug, expecting this sort of reaction out of her.

“Everything is okay… We are going to go see him. I’ll help you get packed if you want… but you’re not staying behind. I won’t let you…” he told her, knowing that because of her nerves, she might try to back out.

“What… if he doesn’t want to see me?”

“Hiki… you and I both know that’s not true…” He sighed and pulled back from their hug to look her in the eyes. “He loves you… he always has and I  _ know _ he always will. I don’t understand any of his recent actions myself, but I know that the moment you show up, it’s going to mean the absolute world to him, especially if he’s also going through a rough time.”

Hiki wiped her face with her sleeve. It wasn’t fair for her to believe she was the only one hurting right then… Leon had been through a lot too, even more than she had. She wanted to be there for him… She wanted to make everything better for him. After taking a deep breath, her eyes shifted back up to her friend. “You’re right… I’m sorry for being so selfish.”

He chuckled. “I think you have every right to be right now… It’s alright.”

She took a few steps back and really thought hard about the decision she was about to make. She really did want to go, but maybe rushing into it and going that very moment wasn’t the best idea. “I’ll go with you… but only if we wait to leave until morning. I want to prepare myself for anything that might happen, no matter what the outcome is.”

Raihan smiled softly. “Tomorrow morning it is, then. Make sure you get plenty of rest tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter... I apologize for that! But the next one is going to be a good one, so it should make up for that!!   
> As always, I would love to hear your thoughts! So please let me know what you thought!


	25. Chapter 25

As Hiki and Raihan arrived on the Isle, they were greeted by the welcoming face of Nic, who had been waiting for them. “Glad you guys made it safely!”

Hiki, who had been a mess of all sorts of different emotions that morning, looked as if she had barely slept the night before, spoke up in response. “He really is here? You saw him, right?”

“That’s right! I uh… _spoke_ to him myself! It was definitely him,” Nic responded, while Raihan eyed her suspiciously after the way she stopped herself and very clearly changed her wording from something else she was about to say. “He’s not in the dojo at the moment, though. I found out he’s been meditating each morning by the ocean, right over in that direction,” she continued and pointed where she was referring to.

Raihan’s gaze followed her directions, then he turned his attention to their friend. “Alright Hiki, you ready?” he asked her, but noticed the look on her face.

“I… I don’t know about this, Rai… I’m really nervous…” she responded, lightly tugging at the bottom of her skirt.

“It’s okay… How about I go get him and bring him back to you? Just wait here,” he told her, while patting her on the shoulder.

When she agreed, he quickly took off toward the area Nic pointed out. It didn’t take long for him to find the former Champion as he was sitting alone on the beach. As he approached him, he felt his anger start to bubble up from inside of him.

“What the hell were you thinking?? No calls? Texts?? Nothing? You’ve had everyone worried sick about you, asshole!”

Leon’s head whipped around quickly, recognizing the voice that was shouting at him, slightly startled by his sudden appearance. “Raihan?? Nice to see you too,” he said with a light chuckle. He stood and brushed the sand off of his clothes. “Listen… I know I should have said something, but I knew you guys would try to stop me from coming here and to be honest, I really needed it! Things were really starting to pile up, and… I needed some way to let go of all of that.”

Raihan sighed, knowing this trip was probably really good for him. But that still didn’t change the fact that Hiki was in such a low state because of it. “I get it, believe me, I do… but leaving Hiki behind like that, not telling her where you were going. That was pretty messed up.”

Hiki… She probably hated him, didn’t she? He couldn’t get that sad look in her eyes out of his head since the moment he left. It left him with a heavy sense of guilt that he couldn’t get rid of. He missed her so incredibly much and he couldn’t wait to return home to her, feeling refreshed and good as new. “How is she doing?”

“Better now than she has been. She’s been a wreck, dude. She had no idea if you were lost or hurt somewhere. She even worried that you might not love her anymore. For a while she never left your couch, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I had a key, I doubt she would have taken care of herself at all.” He sighed, unsure if he should bring the next part up, but figured he needed to know. “She’s had nightmares about Eternatus, too… This has all been really hard for her…”

Hearing all of this really made his heart hurt. The last thing he ever wanted to do was cause her pain. “I really messed up… Please, when you make it back, tell her that I’ll be coming home soon and that I _do_ love her… very, very much.”

Raihan just shrugged. “Tell her yourself. She’s back at the dojo right now.”

Leon grabbed Raihan by the shoulders. “She’s here right now?? Why didn’t you just say so??” Quickly, he gathered all of his things and shoved them in his bag. “Let’s go! Right now!!”

“I’ll catch up. You go ahead.”

\---

When Leon got closer to the dojo, he saw Hiki leaning with her shoulder against a tree. Nic had already gone back inside the dojo to continue her training, as well as to give the couple their privacy. Hiki’s back was to him, so she didn’t see that he was there. He took a deep breath and ran over to her, stopping right behind her.

“You have… absolutely every right to be mad at me right now. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me and never wanted to see me again… I made a huge mistake, but if you will let me, I’ll do anything I can to make it up to you.” He looked up to see her hand clenching the bottom of her skirt, tightly. He felt horrible for putting her in this position… but he continued, hoping he could explain himself. “I should have opened up and talked to you more about what I was going through, but I was worried that I’d be burdening you with all of my stress. I had a lot going through my head and it made me feel like I was going to burst. So I came here, the one place I knew I could go to get away from all of that and just let go of all the negative things that were bringing me down.” 

Still standing behind her, he sighed and reached out to gently take her hand in both of his, pulling it away from its grip on her clothing. She was trembling, like she was crying… but from where he was standing he still couldn’t see her face. It was already bringing tears to his own eyes. “Raihan told me everything… I am so sorry for worrying you… and even more for hurting you.”

Finally he was silent, opening it up to give her a chance to speak. She raised her other arm to wipe her eyes on her sleeve. “You’re right,” she began, her voice shaky. “I _am_ mad… We’ve always told each other everything, no matter what… But you chose the time that you were hurting the most to shut me out.” He nodded, listening to everything she had to say while still never letting go of her hand. “When you said you needed time alone… of course I was sad, but I understood. I just wish we could have discussed it more before you left. I had no idea if you were safe, or where you were going… I couldn’t reach you on your phone either. But do you know the worst part?”

He squeezed her hand to let her know he was still listening, and finally… she turned around to face him. Her eyes were red and he could tell she had been crying for quite some time, not even just since arriving on the Isle. It broke his heart…

She continued. “You never even said goodbye.” As she said this, her tears started flowing again, rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably. 

He didn’t even know what to say. So he did the only thing that felt right in that moment. He pulled her in close and hugged her as tightly as he could.

Hiki’s eyes grew wide as her face rested against him. She pulled her arms up to wrap around him, too, and she just cried… Everything she had been fearing, all of her worries… they were all gone. He was here and she knew he wouldn’t ever disappear again. She wasn’t the only one crying, either. Leon buried his face into her hair and sobbed with her. It was incredibly hard not to. 

As he calmed his emotions, he planted multiple kisses on the top of her head. "I love you so much, Hiki… No matter what happens, that will always be the truth. I wish I could change the way I handled everything so that you never would have felt like you had to question that. But I promise, I'll never leave you in the dark like that ever again…"

Hiki's fingers curled as she gripped the fabric of the uniform he was wearing from the dojo, her face still buried in his chest. Deep down, she knew this had always been true, but hearing from him directly how he felt about her was exactly what she needed. She sniffled before finally looking up at his face, knowing by the look in his eyes that his words were genuine.

However, she also noticed that they seemed to be searching for an answer from her, and his next words confirmed his own insecurities. 

"If I'm being honest, part of why I didn't explain myself before I left was because I was scared..." Still silent, Hiki continued to look at him with questioning eyes. She never thought she would ever hear him say those words… He was the bravest person she had ever met. "You see… after losing against Gloria, and losing my title as Champion… I wondered if the people in my life would still look at me the same way… Would Hop still look up to me the way he always has? Would Raihan still consider me a strong rival? Would Galar still think of me as the hero they always have, even though I couldn't stop Eternatus?"

He paused for a moment, closing his eyes as he sighed. "And would you still love me even with all of the times I've failed recently… with me no longer being the Champion you were so proud of? Those were the questions that kept running through my head after I lost. And if there was any possibility that any of those things were no longer true, I didn't want to know… So before I could find out, I ran."

"Lee…" Hiki felt her tears resurfacing as he said this. It was all starting to make sense now. 

"I know," he continued. "It was crazy for me to think so drastically. You were so supportive after I lost… and yet I still wanted to believe that I was losing not just my title, but everything important to me. So I needed to distract myself from those thoughts."

Lifting herself up on her toes, Hiki kissed his lips, softly. "You're never going to lose me… You were my best friend before even becoming Champion. I know I would have still fallen in love with you even if you had never earned that title… and I still love you after you've lost it. You're so… so precious to me and I would never even think about leaving you over something so silly. I love you for who you are, Leon… not for the things you've accomplished."

Leon's face grew red as she spoke these words, tears threatening to escape his eyes again. Just as Hiki should have known that his feelings wouldn't change so suddenly, he realized he should have known the same about her. The two of them had a very special bond that could never be broken so easily. 

As he struggled to find the right words to respond, Hiki wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him close to her and spoke softly into his ear. "Please come back home… I've really missed you."

He held her close, his heart warmed by her words. “I’m sorry, Love, but… I can’t do that.” His response, however, caused Hiki to pull away and take a small step back in surprise. He immediately realized how that answer must have sounded and he quickly took both of her hands in his. “Wait… What I mean is… I still have unfinished business here on the Isle and can’t go back just yet.”

Wanting to be supportive, she nodded silently, though her disappointment was clear on her face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. “I understand. Then… I’ll see you back at home when you’re finished?”

Leon smiled softly, still holding her hands, and shook his head. “No… I’d like you to stay here with me. I’ve missed you a lot too, and there’s no way I want to be away from you any longer.”

Her eyes widened at his suggestion. “A-Are you sure about that? Wouldn’t I just distract you?”

He raised her hands up to his face and kissed them gently. “I’d be more distracted by missing you than I would be knowing I’d get to see you after my training is finished each day.”

“Okay, you lovebirds…” Raihan’s voice called out as he approached them. “Is everyone feeling better now?”

Hiki felt her face turn red as she heard their friend speaking to them. She had been so caught up in the moment that she almost forgot they weren’t completely alone. She held onto one of Leon’s hands as she turned around to stand at his side and face Raihan. “A lot better… Thank you for bringing me here.” She looked up at Leon’s face and smiled before continuing. “Lee wants to stay here just a little longer, so he invited me to stay with him. I’m sorry, but we aren’t going to be heading back with you. I hope that’s okay!”

Raihan gave them a smirk. “It’s fine. I’m sure you two have quite a bit to catch up on. Besides, I don’t _have_ to go back alone! I’ve got your friend to accompany me,” he said while flashing a wink at Hiki.

“Hm? You brought a friend with you?” Leon asked, completely oblivious.

“Well… not exactly,” Hiki responded. Nic was already there! Plus she was the one who told them Leon was on the Isle. Did she not introduce herself? She would have to ask for more details on their meeting later…

Leon tilted his head in confusion as Raihan spoke up again. “Anyway, I’m really happy to see the two of you together again…”

In response, Leon leaned over to kiss Hiki’s head. “We’re happy too… And don’t worry, this isn’t going to happen ever again.”

“It better not!” Raihan scolded, but then sighed. He couldn’t be too mad. Things ended up just fine… “I’m gonna head out and give you two some time alone. Let me know when you get back to Wyndon!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally back together... I hope you enjoyed reading this very emotional chapter!! I've got a lot more fun stuff coming, including a bit of a look into Hiki's family history! So stay tuned!  
> As always let me know what you think!


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